Brazen bag thief who targeted tourists at London pubs is spared prison

MacBook laptops and a £10,000 diamond engagement ring were among items stolen by Khereddene Djaber as he swept through the city’s pubs. 

The 31-year-old appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday (October 19) after he pleaded guilty to six counts of theft. 

The thefts throughout August at various pubs throughout London including Dirty Dicks in Bishopsgate, the Lord Aberconway pub on Old Broad Street and the Hamilton Hall pub at Liverpool Street. 

Judge Ben Gumpert said: “The modus operandi for all the thefts seems to be the same. You would go to a pub full of tourists and other merrymakers who had various belonging with them and you would saddle up and drop your coat over the thing you wants to steal and then you made off with it.” 

Djaber, of Grange Park Road in Leyton, was eventually arrested when officers spotted him carrying out a theft. 

The diamond engagement ring, two laptops, three mobile phones and an amount of cash were recovered from him. 

Khereddene Djaber leaving Woolwich Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

Defending Djaber, barrister Leila Tai said: “He was acting, misguidedly, in the belief that he needed to provide for his family.” 

Judge Gumpert said: “I reject that, he was doing it because he had a nasty drug habit and couldn’t be bothered to get honest work.” 

Later in the hearing the judge was told that Djaber doesn’t have the right to work in the UK. 

At the time of his arrest on August 24, Djaber had been on the run for two years after failing to turn up to court for a fraud matter. 

This related to an incident in May 2020 when he went to Charlton Car Pound to retrieve an uninsured scooter which had been confiscated by police. 

He produced a fake French driving licence under the name Jacky Guillaume. 

Judge Gumpert sentenced Djaber to 61 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years.