Deep Adhiya, 20, a courier who stole 120 Apple iPhone 5s worth more than £51,000 has appeared in court. He pleaded guilty to theft of the batch of gold-coloured smart phones belonging to Apple on December 12, 2013.
Leicester Crown Court was told the phones were taken after Adhiya took delivery of them in Hinckley. He was supposed to be transporting them to London.
Adhiya from Northfields, Leicester, pleaded guilty on the basis that another person traveling in the delivery van with him took the box of phones, saying it was in lieu of an £800 cannabis debt Adhiya owed him.
Kate Plummer, prosecuting, said in relation to the basis of plea: “The value of the phones was £51,123 which greatly exceeds the value of the drug debt.
“He says it was the other male’s idea and he let him take the phones to settle the drugs debt between them.”
The defendant, a self-employed courier with no previous convictions, refused to provide the police with details of the person he claimed took possession of the phones.
The hearing is adjourned until March 10, for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
Releasing Adhiya on bail, Judge Robert Brown said: “This case crosses the custody threshold and the fact you’re getting bail shouldn’t be taken as to any indication of what the sentence will be.”
