Warning issued to gym-goers after thief used locker code to target bank accounts
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Police have warned gym-goers not to use the same Pin code for their lockers and bank cards after a prolific thief targeted luxury health clubs. Declan Murphy, 35, secretly watched while a man entered his gym locker code, and guessed it would be the same as his phone and bank card Pins before stealing £500 from his account.
He bought himself time to take the money by drenching the man’s phone to damage it. Murphy was found to be using membership cards under false names to repeatedly access Third Space and Nuffield Health gyms, a court heard. Police said the technique has been used by other criminals, and warned the public to always use different codes for lockers and bank cards.
On Friday, Murphy, of Bromley, was jailed for two years and three months at Isleworth Crown Court having pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and 11 counts of fraud by false representation. Sentencing the father-of-two, His Honour Judge Edward Connell described his offending as “pre-planned” and “well practiced”.
In September 2024, the qualified carpenter watched as a man, who had only joined the gym after his wife died from cancer, put his four-digit code into his locker at a Third Space luxury health club in the City of London, City of London Police said. He then broke into the locker, and correctly guessed that the code would be the same as the man’s phone and bank card Pins.
