THREE men fled from police across a railway track and over a six-foot fence after stealing a mobile phone in Hereford, magistrates heard.

Samuil Paun, 18, Leonard Stan, 21, and Samuel Gheorghe, 22, all from the Birmingham area, pleaded guilty to theft from a shop and trespassing on railway property when they appeared before Hereford Magistrates Court on Monday.

Kerry Lovegrove, prosecuting, said that all three men had entered the Vodaphone shop in the Old Market shopping centre on September 16.

They were monitored on CCTV and seen picking up a Samsung Galaxy S8 mobile phone valued at £700 from a display.

“They have all been seen tampering with the fittings until one managed to remove the phone and they all left,” said Mrs Lovegrove.

Police located the men at Hereford Railway Station and, upon seeing police, they ran across the railway track and scaled a six-foot high fence.

They were stopped by police on Barrs Court Road and the phone was recovered.

Chris Read, mitigating, said that the three men gave full and frank interviews at the police station and admitted what had happened.

“It was nothing pre-planned and they had come to Hereford for a day out,” said Mr Read.

“They had been in town and eventually ended up at the Vodaphone shop.

“It was opportunistic theft and they decided to take the phone to sell it to put money in their pockets.

“There was no pointing the finger at each other and they were all equally to blame.”

Paun, of Bordesley Green, Birmingham, was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months.

Stan, of Pelham Road, and Gheorghe, of Slade Road, both of Birmingham, were ordered each to complete 120 hours of unpaid working within the next 12 months.