A career criminal who snatched 18 mobiles from victims travelling by tube through stations including Kilburn has been jailed for two years.

Between July 2017 and December 2017, Mohamed Djiama travelled the underground network targeting passengers – mostly lone women – who were on their phones.

Besides Kilburn he stole from passengers at Bethnal Green, St Pauls, Tower Hill, Whitechapel, Aldgate, Bank and Tottenham Court Road stations.

Djiama would grab his victim’s phone then run off the train before they could do anything to stop him.

DC Owen Lynch, from British Transport Police, said: “Djiama’s tactics were brazen, but his arrogance blinded him and he was caught by one of our officers.

“I am pleased he has been handed a custodial sentence meaning he is now unable to continue with his behaviour. We simply will not tolerate robberies such as this on the transport network and work hard to catch offenders.

“Thankfully we police a CCTV rich environment which helps us enormously in identifying offenders and their tactics. We then use this to track them down and, in Djiama’s case, bring them before the courts. If you’re using the rail network to commit your crimes, it is only a matter of time before we find you.”

appeared before Blackfriars Crown Court on February 23 after pleading guilty to 18 counts of theft from a person and one count of attempted theft.

Besides the 24 month prison sentence, Djiama was ordered to pay a £140 victim surcharge and is liable to be deported when he gets out of jail.

Steve Burton, from Transport for London, said: “All our customers have the right to travel without fear of crime and we are pleased to see the successful sentencing of this prolific thief. We continue to work with the police to keep the network a safe, low-crime environment.”