Anthony Gawthorp, 24, left his mobile phone at a house in Cambridge where he stole a laptop, Daily Mail reported Tuesday. The house was burgled on Aug 28.
He later reported the phone missing, but investigators found the phone at the crime scene before that. They checked the photographs the phone contained and promptly recognised him from his three previous convictions for house-breaking.
He was charged with burglary. At Cambridge Crown Court Friday, Anthony claimed he had stood outside the house and used the phone to illuminate the inside while an accomplice stole the laptop.
"The defendant's picture was on the phone. When the police were looking at it, he sent a text message saying `Whoever has got my phone better give it back'," Prosecutor Sara Walker was quoted as saying.
Published 14 September 2010, 11:10 IST