A prolific mobile phone thief, who plagued company car parks, was caught by the technology he was so fond of stealing, a court heard.

John Winslow, 24, and another man toured car parks in hired cars and targeted mobile phones.

But when they were spotted in the car park of Ambar Components in Thame Park Road, Thame, on January 24 last year, a member of staff jumped into his car and followed them, giving police a running commentary on his mobile phone. The men were stopped on the M40, Luton Crown Court was told.

Winslow, of Stevenage, admitted six charges of theft, going equipped to steal and attempting to pervert the course of justice by giving false details when stopped.

He was jailed for a total of two years and three months and banned from driving for a year. The court heard that his accomplice had fled to southern Ireland.

Vincent Coughlin, defending, said: "Since his arrest, he has trained and found work and settled down with his partner and children. "This will be a painful sentence for him made all the more sour because his co-accused has never faced the music."

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