Man jailed after Bizkit phone thefts

A man who was in possession of 27 smartphones which were stolen during a Limp Bizkit gig has been jailed for 14 months.

Romanian Stefu Costel initially said he was looking after the bag containing the handsets for his brother’s friend, but pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods when the phones were found at his home just two days after the concert.

The phones, worth £9000, were taken from the crowd during Limp Bizkit’s February 2014 show at Manchester’s Academy and was the second time Costel had targeted music fans – he spent time in jail last year for stealing phones at the Reading festival.

Prosecuter Tim Greenald says: “They were not aware of the thefts when they took place but realised they had become victims during the night. It was an organised and planned theft, most likely committed by more than one person, with a degree of skill used.”

The handsets will now be returned to their owners.

Last week, Limp Bizkit made their new track Endless Slaughter free to download and will kick off a US tour in September.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.