Robber in fake crime probe is jailed for a year
A 25-year-old who took another woman's mobile phone and handbag by claiming to be investigating a crime has been locked up.
Lisa Kurti tailed the victim when she left a bus on which both had been travelling at a stop in High Street, Smethwick on April 20, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
The robber followed the victim through the Toll Gate shopping centre before stopping the woman .
Kurti claimed her sister's mobile had been stolen and wanted to check that the woman did not have it, explained Mr Hugh O'Brien Quinn, prosecuting.
The victim handed over the phone which the defendant refused to return before she and another person who cannot be identified grabbed hold of the woman's arms, threatened her and snatched her handbag, the court was told.
Both then walked away leaving the victim to go home and describe what happened to her mother who both recognised the description of Kurti and knew where she lived, said Mr O'Brien Quinn.
The mother waited outside the nearby address and confronted Kurti when she returned forcing her to hand back the stolen phone and bag. She was later arrested by police.
Mr David Iles, defending, said she came to the UK from her native Kosovo aged six and was 'hungry' when she committed the offence.
Kurti now living at St Albans Road, Smethwick pleaded guilty to robbery and was jailed for 12 months by Judge John Warner.
