Man Who Lived Illegally in the UK for 15 Years Finally Arrested After Police Discovered What He Was Doing to Students on a Night Out

A father of three who came to the United Kingdom from Senegal and had been living in the country illegally for about 15 years has been jailed after carrying out a series of phone thefts during a night out in Nottingham.

The man, 38-year-old Serigle Ndiaye, targeted students who were enjoying themselves at the popular Rock City nightclub on Talbot Street. Nottingham Crown Court heard that he moved around the venue looking for easy opportunities, quietly taking mobile phones from people’s handbags and pockets while they were distracted by the music and crowds.

After stealing the phones, Ndiaye used a clever trick to avoid being caught. He wrapped each of the stolen phones in foil. By doing this, he hoped the owners would not be able to track the devices using phone-tracking technology. The method made it harder for signals to be detected, which could delay efforts to locate the stolen phones.

The court also heard that Ndiaye was involved in another similar incident in Manchester. In that case, he allegedly worked with a woman whose identity has not been confirmed. The pair targeted a woman who was out celebrating during Manchester’s Pride festival. According to the victim, a stranger approached her and suddenly hugged her. While this was happening, she felt her handbag being pulled. Moments later, she realised her phone had disappeared.

Police later stopped a car in which Ndiaye was travelling as a passenger on Nuthall Road in Nottingham at about 1:45 a.m. on October 10 last year. When officers searched the vehicle, they discovered 10 mobile phones on the back seat. All of them had been wrapped in foil. Investigators later confirmed that the phones had been stolen from students earlier that same evening inside Rock City.

Prosecutor Ellesse Taylor told the court that the devices had been taken directly from handbags and pockets. She explained that Ndiaye later said he was heading back home to Leeds after travelling to Nottingham from the Manchester area.

Ndiaye, who also uses the alias Cheikh Fall, lives on Roderick Street in Upper Wortley, Leeds. He admitted to several charges of theft and already has a long criminal history. The court was told he has committed 41 similar offences in the past and has appeared before courts on eight previous occasions since 2013, mostly for stealing from other people.

During sentencing, Judge Michael Auty KC said the defendant had been living in the UK illegally for many years and was not legally allowed to work. Because of that, the judge said, Ndiaye sometimes worked cash-in-hand jobs when they were available. However, when those opportunities disappeared, he turned to stealing.

The judge acknowledged that Ndiaye has three young children but said the repeated criminal behaviour could not be ignored. He described the crimes as deliberate and targeted, especially since the phones were carefully wrapped in foil to prevent tracking.

Ndiaye was sentenced to two years in prison.

His defence lawyer, Tony Stanford, told the court that his client had come to the UK from Senegal without legal status and had been living in difficult circumstances. He said Ndiaye is the father of three children aged nine, two and one.

The lawyer admitted that the crimes were planned and unfair to the victims, but he also argued that Ndiaye felt trapped because he was unable to work legally due to his immigration status.

According to the pre-sentence report presented to the court, Ndiaye accepts that what he did was wrong. However, the judge ultimately decided that the seriousness of the offences and his long record of similar crimes meant a prison sentence was necessary.