18-year-old woman sent to Young Offender's Centre after being convicted of city centre mobile phone thefts.

Earlier this year we asked for help in identifying two people believed to be involved in a series of mobile phone thefts across the city in December 2018.

We were very pleased with the response with several people naming the same person.

As a result of this information and further enquiries, Claudia Copelea an 18-year-old woman of Thorneywood Rise in Nottingham (pictured), was made a wanted person for a number of thefts across Derby city centre, however we then knew that on December 27 she had travelled to Bucharest in Romania.

Last weekend we were made aware by Bedfordshire police that Miss Copelea had attempted to re-enter the country at Luton airport on Saturday, July 13 and so had been arrested by them.

Officers from the Derby City Centre Safer Neighbourhood Team travelled to Luton and brought her back for interview to St Mary’s Wharf Police Station in Derby.

On Monday, July 15, Miss Copelea appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to 9 charges of theft in the city centre, 8 involving mobile phones and another of theft of a purse and cash.

She was sentenced to ten months custody in a Young Offender’s Centre and ordered to pay £115 victim surcharge.

Sergeant Jamie Millard, who is in charge of the Safer Neighbourhood team in the city, said: “We are really pleased that we have been able to obtain justice for the victims in this case.

“It was fantastic that we had people prepared to name one of the suspects and as a result of this and further enquires Miss Copelea was recorded as wanted for the offences so when she tried to re-enter the country she was detained.

“I would like to thank all those that helped us in identifying her and am pleased that she has now got some time to think about the consequences of her actions.”

We are still looking for the identity of this man in the image and would like to speak to him about the incidents.