12 Month Suspended Sentence for Selling Stolen Items
A mobile phone shop situated in a Birmingham suburb has been found to be at the “epicentre of the local stolen property economy” by police.
Imran Javed’s house was visited by detectives in January of last year as part of a probe into the handling of stolen goods. Police seized 100 stolen items at Javed’s residence on Reginald Road, Alum Rock, items which had been reported missing from as far away as Manchester and Cornwall.
Detectives also came across a stash of bags and receipts, evidence which led cops to nearby mobile phone shop Pearl Mobile, on Alum Rock Road, which the 31-year-old man managed. The store boss was arrested after investigators recovered 11 valuable items on the business premises which theft victims had reported stolen.
Javed was handed a 12-month suspended jail term despite denying his involvement in the scam. He was also ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid work, pay £1,200 in court costs and £100 compensation to each of his victims, to be paid within a two-month time-frame.
Leading the 12-month investigation was PC John Cunnion, who said: “Historically officers used to find that pubs were the location of choice for criminals to look to exchange stolen goods. But in this case we had a seemingly reputable shop hiding a sinister side.”
“In total we were only able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that around 10 per cent of the items we seized were stolen. We’d therefore remind owners the importance of registering the details of their items online.
He added: “Javed argued that he had purchased all the items at car boot sales and market stalls. He even said that customers had come into the shop and passed over the stolen items – painting himself as an innocent party in the whole process.
“It is imperative that people help us smash the myths that this kind of crime is victimless − if a bargain sounds too good to be true then it more than likely is. Please do not fund this kind of crime in your community.
