A man who stole a phone has been found guilty after investigators linked him to the crime through DNA found on a sneaker he abandoned during the incident in the City of London.

Spencer Duarte, 28, was apprehended by bystanders after he snatched a mobile device from someone’s grip on Ludgate Hill on August 7 of last year, inadvertently losing one of his trainers in the process. CCTV footage captured him fleeing the scene wearing just one shoe.

Authorities submitted the abandoned sneaker for DNA testing, which revealed a match with a profile already in the national database.

Duarte, who resides in Saffron Walden, Essex, appeared before the Inner London Crown Court on Monday and admitted to the charge of theft. He is set to be sentenced in September.

Andrew Walker, the physical forensics manager at the City of London Police, stated: “We extracted a sufficient amount of DNA from the shoe, enabling us to develop a major profile that was compatible with searches on the national DNA database.

This process led to a match with a previously recorded individual, Mr. Walker noted.

“We found our suspect through the evidence, and he is now facing justice.”