Southampton: Men Rescue Student From Phone Thief

5 March 2015, 07:54 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Three men have stepped in to rescue a student who was being robbed of her phone in Southampton city centre.

The 23-year-old was sending a text when a man tried to snatch the phone out of her hand - outside Maplins near York Walk at around 5.15pm, Thursday 26 February.

Three men tried to intervene and brought the offender to the ground but they backed away when the offender put his hand in his pocket which led them to believe he may have had a knife on him.

Thanks to their actions, however, the phone was recovered.

The offender is described as a white man in his late teens, around 6ft tall, dark hair, and wispy facial hair. He was wearing a purple bar piercing in his left eyebrow and had a large hole in one earlobe. He had a tattoo on his right forearm. He was wearing a black jacket over a grey tracksuit.

DC Miles Wilson said: 

"This was an attack on a single female that would have been a lot worse were it not for the actions of the men who intervened. There would have been a lot of people in the area at that time of day and police are keen to speak to anyone who witnessed the struggle or saw the offender run off."

Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Wilson at Southampton Central police station on 101 or the anonymous Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.