Thieves operating in Ned Kellys, Munich

My phone & about 100 euros got stolen from my coat pocket while I was sat at the bar in Ned's with Pootle, 3 Lions, Aquatic, French Bloke & Editor Bob this evening.

This was while my coat was on the back of a chair, upon which one of us (can't remember who) was sitting.

I'm not too bothered about the money, and normally I'd just buy a new phone. But this phone was the one that was given to me when I left my last job, and has a unique cover that you can't get in the shops. Obviously it has more than just monetary value to me.

So, if someone tries to sell you a silver & blue Sony Ericsson Z600 (clam-shell style with built-in camera), with the words "Team Munich 2003" printed on the back, please give the fucker a good kicking, grab the phone, and drop me an email or PM.

Thankyou and goodnight.

Shit - and I thought this was Toytown? I'll have to revise my opinions of the place. Have only ever once been pickpocketed, this summer in Ibiza. Caught the little toerag in the act though, and administered, with my mates, just such a kicking...
Good luck in getting the phone back.

Well I doubt I'll ever get the phone back - I expect the police have much more important things to look into, like people crossing the road while the man is red.

I just thought that advertising the fact that it has been nicked will make it a bit more difficult for the dirty thieving cunts to sell it on, at least within the Munich expat community.

Went down to the police station last night (cheers Aquatic, 3 Lions & French Bloke for coming along too) to report it, so at least I should be able to claim some money back from my insurance. Although as I said, the personal value of the phone is something that can't really be replaced...

Where I used to live they used to cut thieves hands off. In the Middle East thieves only do it twice (Chop! Chop!) and murderers only once (Chop!)

Good luck though.

Sorry to hear about that Malc. May the little fucker choke on his chicken!

what happend at the police station? this should at least be worth reporting. how was it? difficult? what to do?

I made a statement about what happened, described what was taken, described the suspects (earlier in the evening we'd seen a couple of dodgy-looking guys hanging around behind us).

Then they gave me some documents that prove that I've reported the theft, for my insurance claim.

I'm supposed to make an appointment to go and look at some mugshots, to see if I recognise the guys we think did it.

Well, sorry to hear about that shit man. I hope you see them in the street before Mr Plod does. Dr Martens boots always dish out better justice than the police.

I was thinking more along the lines of getting French Bloke's moroccan mates to take them off to a lock-up somewhere and give them a good going over with baseball bats. Preferably such that they are unable to walk or eat solid food again.

What you need is someone who will get medieval on his/their ass/asses...

Bloke in Ibiza who tried it on with me was able to walk/half run away. Consenus the next day was that we should have given him a better going over.

Woah, dudes - the thing I like about Germany/Sweden/the civilised world is that this sort of thing doesn't happen here.

I say let the police deal with it. Make sure they catch the fucker though.

Sorry, I disagree. Scum that do things like this need to have the concept of socially acceptable behaviour beaten into them. The Saudis have got it right - chop off the fucker's hand(s) and you can bet he won't steal again...

What are the police going to do? Chances are that even if they do catch them, there's not much they'll be able to do except say "you're a naughty boy, don't do it again".

I'm with Malc - for a minor crime like this the police probably won't catch them, so society should go out there and make a stand. i.e. beat them up. Not put them in hospital, just maybe bruise them a bit...fracture the odd rib, that sort of thing. And then of course, empty his pockets and take everything he has - see how he likes it...

Sorry about your phone, Malc. Good luck getting it back. That's a real shame. Especially because of the personal value.

I'n not saying that my initial reaction when someone rips me off isn't the same as yours Malc.

Hey Malcolm, I read an article in the paper today and it reminded me of this thread of yours. The article (today's Abendzeitung - 13th Jan) says that two cell phone thieves were caught in the neighbourhood of the Kultfabrik yesterday. Apparently one was 25 years old and the other was 28. Does that sound like the suspects you saw? They were arrested and when their flat was searched a further 6 handsets were found. I would imagine there are lots of cell phone thieves around, but you never know. It could be them.

Hmmm. The description matches - but I suppose it could match any pair of villains really. Wonder if the police will let me and Editor Bob go back and look at some more mugshots...

If it is them I reckon it's unlikely they'll still have my phone anyway - it was nearly 3 months ago and they'd have almost certainly been able to sell it on in that time. I suppose it's possible that one of them decided to use it themselves though.

The police have got the phone description and IMEI number, so if they recovered it they'll be able to match it to my theft report and get in touch with me.

Oh, and this reminds me: I still haven't put in the claim on my insurance yet

Last week on the TT Tuesday drink, everbody had put their coats on top of the well. I saw two guys walk in to GM's and start eyeing up everyones coats and then just turned aroung and walked out. Not to say that they were up to anything, but you cant help but think it.

I would remember them again, so if I see them, I know I am not being paranoid.

I just wish I had been more alert in Malcolm's case

Mate of mine had a leather jacket swiped from Günthers once. It really is a good idea to keep a close eye on your stuff in any of these busy bars where there's lots of people moving around. Actually anywhere, but specifically these type of place.

By the way... everyone should get the serial number of their phone, and note it down. Some phone companies (Vodafone,02, etc) may have a policy where
you can report the serial number, and they will block it from the network.
The serial number is linked to the phone, not the SIM card... so the idea is
that the phone can not be used on any of the networks, regardless of the SIM.

At least it would mean that the thieves would have to sell the phone outside
the country... if everyone took a note of the number, and the network
providers complied, and blocked it, then the demand for robbing phones
might decrease...

For most phones, just enter the characters below into it, and the number should
pop up immediately.
*#06#

I think we could all have done with being a bit more alert. I certainly won't be making the same mistake again.


All GSM networks are capable of blacklisting individual phone IDs (IMEIs), but they don't do it because of the effort involved. And probably because they don't want to lose the revenue generated by calls made on the stolen phones...