06 Dec A Romanian mother of three begged a judge to be sent home, after she was prosecuted for stealing an iPhone X
Florentina Chichari, who has no home address, admitted one charge of theft at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Chichari, a 23-year-old woman from Romanian background was sentenced to 8 weeks in prison for stealing an iPhone X, worth £600 but the judge refused her request to be deported.
In the afternoon of the 25th of September police were called to Côte Brasserie in Charing Cross.
The court heard Chichari was begging when she noticed the victim’s phone was on show.
When she was refused money, Chichari discreetly put the phone in her pocket and walked away.
The victim ran after her and the phone fell out of her pocket during the chase.
Chichari was interviewed at Charing Cross Police station with an interpreter and a solicitor present but refused to comment.
The defendant represented herself in court and apologized to the judge for her crime and not pleading guilty at her first opportunity.
“Please send me home, I have three children including a two-month-old.” She begged the judge with remorse to be sent back to Romania.
The judge took that into consideration, along with Chichari having no previous convictions however, the prosecution explained she was only in the country for a month before she turned to crime.
The judge described it as “A very serious offense, knowing the importance of smartphones to students”.
