The man stole the jacket from Liberty London (Image: Getty)
A migrant living in an asylum hotel who travelled into the West End to steal a jacket worth more than £1,000 whined that he needed it because he was only being given £9 a week courtesy of British taxpayers, a court heard. Varlami Bobokhidze prayed in court as he was remanded in custody at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old, who is living in the Holiday Inn, Empire Way, Wembley, being used to house migrants, was arrested after making multiple trips to the West End to steal items from high end stores. He stole a pair of Levi shorts worth £55 from John Lewis on July 17 and a Moncler jacket worth £1,005 from designer department store Liberty London on Regent Street on July 31. When arrested, he told police: “I’m in a hotel, I only have £9.” He admitted two offences of theft.
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The Holiday Inn in Wembley (Image: Google Maps)
Bobokhidze was assisted in court by a Georgian interpreter and appeared wearing a grey t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms with a grey jumper around his shoulders.
He stood with his hands clasped together in a prayer motion as the prosecutor outlined the facts of the case and occasionally made the sign of the cross in front of his body.
District judge Louisa Ciecióra said: “Having heard the facts of this case, I’m not satisfied I can hear this case today – I need a pre-sentence report and I’m told that cannot be done today, so I’m going to put this matter off to the 17 September.
“You will be remanded in custody as I have got substantial grounds to believe you would commit further offences or fail to surrender.
“I base that on your previous convictions, on the nature of the seriousness of these matters and on the likely sentence.”
Royal Courts of Justice in London (Image: Getty)
Bobokhidze then asked how long he would be in custody and if he could say something, but was sent down to the cells by the judge.
The asylum seeker was seen going into multiple high end shops looking for items to steal on July 17.
Prosecutor Edward Aydin earlier said Bobokhidze and another male were followed from the migrant hotel to the West End by a Sun journalist.
He said: “Police were alerted after he was followed by a journalist from The Sun on 17 July 2025.
“Police then travelled there and he was with his friend who still hasn’t been located.
“They’ve gone into John Lewis to take the Levi jeans and Mr Bobokhidze has taken them, put them in a bag and exited.”
Bobokhidze were seen looking at the stolen shorts before entering Moleskin and Belstaff stores, but being pushed out by security.
At 3pm the other man entered Lillywhites with Bobokhidze waiting outside.
They entered Hollister, Barbour and Reiss, before meeting up with friends at Oxford Circus and returning to the Holiday Inn.
Mr Aydin said a security manager at Liberty London later saw photographs of Bobokhidze in The Sun and linked him to another theft on July 31.
The prosecutor said: “A security manager reading the newspapers and seeing photos of Mr Bobokhidze in The Sun alerted police because he had CCTV images of Mr Bobokhidze taking a Moncler jacket which was worth £1,005 and not returned.
“He’s seen entering the Regent Street Liberty Store, taking the Moncler jacket, de-tagging the jacket so it doesn’t cause the alarm to go off and making his way to the stairwell.
“He removed his own jacket putting on the Moncler jacket, placing his jacket on top and exiting the store.
“In that Liberty store he got a friend of his to act as a look out.”
When he committed the offences, Bobokhidze was on bail facing other shoplifting offences in Southampton and Manchester.
He was also subject to a conditional discharge after being convicted of shoplifting in Surrey.
Mr Aydin said he would be seeking £55 compensation for John Lewis and £1,005 for Liberty London.
Bobokhidze had originally been represented by a duty solicitor but they told the court they could no longer represent him after he “became very angry” and “mentioned a number of choice words”.
He was arrested on August 14 at the Holiday Inn and made his first appearance in court the next day.
Bobokhidze then appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on August 21, but the case was adjourned because no interpreter had been booked.
He accepted that he had been subject to a conditional discharge for an offence of shoplifting in Surrey which he has now breached with the new offending.
Bobokhidze earlier said: “I was arrested on March 6 and I was released on March 16. I spent some time in custody, they showed me CCTV and that’s why I admitted the offence.
“I wanted these items for personal use because I only receive £9 a week and I wanted clothing.
“I couldn’t afford to buy these, and I’m really hoping for these two matters you don’t send me to jail because I didn’t sell the items to anyone.”