16-year-old male charged with phone thefts in Salford

A 16-year-old male linked to phone thefts in Salford has been arrested and charged with seven offences following a Police pursuit.

On Monday, October 8th the Greater Manchester Police pursued and arrested two males who were riding a stolen motorbike along the River Irwell.

The two boys, aged 16 and 17, were suspected of being responsible for a number of mobile phone thefts that had recently occurred in the area.

We have in the past 30 minutes pursued and arrested two males riding a stolen motorbike with the support of our SpecOps, Police Helicopter and local policing team. These are suspected to have been involved in a number of Phone Snatches around the Salford Area.

— GMP Salford (@GMPSalford) October 8, 2018

The boys were later arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and eight mobile phone thefts.

Both suspects were taken in to custody. The 17-year-old was later released with no further action taken, while the 16-year-old was charged with seven offences and kept in custody until he could attend court.

An update on yesterdays arrest where we pursued a stolen motorbike responsible for a number of thefts and robberies.

A 16 year old male has been charged with 7 offences and will be kept in custody for court tomorrow.

He will be enjoying our fine dining food for one more night.

— GMP Salford (@GMPSalford) October 9, 2018

Phone snatches are not a new phenomenon in Salford and have been happening frequently over the last year.

In July of this year two boys, aged 14 and 15, were arrested for snatching several phones around Salford and Manchester City Centre.

The main targets for these thieves are women walking alone and students with their mobile phones in their hands.

GMP Eccles have posted a series of tips on their Facebook page in order to prevent more people becoming a victim of this crime.

Some of the tips they gave were:

Be aware of your surroundings.
If you need to call or use your phone on the street look out for anyone on a bike or moped near you.
Don’t text while walking – you won’t notice what’s going on around you.
If that’s not possible, stand away from the roadside close to a building or wall so no one can come up behind you.
Going hands-free can prevent a thief from snatching your phone out of your hand.

The University of Salford have also advised their students to be vigilant when walking around campus and through Salford as there has been a rise in both bag and phone thefts in the area.

They have advised students to not browse the web or text as they walk in order to remain aware of who is around them and to notify Security immediately in the event of a theft or attempted theft using the number 547333.