Algerian bag snatcher left Britain with £3,000 'repatriation' money - but was back next day to steal again

Hakim Benmakhlouf, 26, has a string of convictions for stealing from rich tourists at five-star hotels and airports over the last ten years.

He was offered voluntary repatriation to his native Algeria in July last year while serving yet another prison term for theft and was deported after being given the free cash.

But Benmakhlouf returned on the Eurostar from Paris the very next day and in October he was captured on CCTV making off with a Louis Vuitton bag at a luxury hotel in central London.

Hakim Benmakhlouf: He targeted five-star hotels and airports

According to police, Benmakhlouf enjoyed a lavish lifestyle with a home in fashionable St John's Wood, north-west London, and a collection of expensive designer clothes.

The conman - who distracted one victim by spraying ketchup on his back - was finally arrested sipping coffee at a restaurant near his home on April 9 this year.

Yesterday he was jailed for three years after admitting two thefts and asking for five similar offences to be taken into consideration.

Prosecuting, Helen Thomas told London's Southwark Crown Court that Benmakhlouf was a "prolific thief".

She said: "The defendant targets high-class hotels or airports. He deliberately targets tourists who are likely to be in possession of large amounts of currency and other valuable items that might include passports."

In December 1998, Benmakhlouf was sentenced to two months in a young offender's institution.

The father-of-two received 15 months in March 1999, a year's probation in December 2000, 21 months in February 2001, 30 months in June 2003, 12 months in August 2003, 18 months in October 2004 and 42 months in December 2005.

Ms Thomas said: "During the course of this sentence, he was offered voluntary deportation and taken to a holding centre in Dover in mid-July 2007.

"He was deported to Algiers. He had been provided with some £3,000 by the Government to do so."

She went on: "He then returned to the UK shortly afterwards, where he embarked on the current offending spree. He has no right to be in the UK."

In October 2007, he was caught on CCTV stealing a Louis Vuitton holdall containing cash, pens and other valuables worth £5,000 from a guest at the Churchill Intercontinental Hotel in London's Portman Square.

And in December 2007, footage at the same hotel showed him taking another Louis Vuitton bag containing a wallet, cash, a digital camera and two mobiles worth £6,000 in total.

Benmakhlouf, who uses 12 different aliases and three different dates of birth, admitted being behind a string of other audacious thefts.

They included a bag theft at the Madame Tussauds waxworks attraction, where he sprayed his victim with tomato sauce to cause confusion, and another on a Gatwick Express train, where he used shaving foam.

Other venues for thefts included Gatwick Airport and a bookmakers in Paddington.

The seven thefts that former rent boy Benmakhlouf admitted netted him a total of £16,000.

In mitigation, Benmakhlouf's barrister Lucy Corrin said he came from a troubled family background, became addicted to cocaine and began stealing from rich men who hired him for sex.

Judge John Price recommended that he be thrown out of Britain as soon as he serves his jail term.

He added: "The Government even gave you £3,000 to go back to Algeria. You did go back, then you came back here.

"You should not be here, you are a danger to this society and you should be deported as soon as possible.'

Speaking outside court, Detective Sergeant Andy Swindells, of Scotland Yard's Hotel Crime Unit, said: "These offences Benmakhlouf admitted are the tip of the iceberg.

"He is the most skilful bag thief I have ever seen in action

"Whenever I have encountered him, he has been dressed from head to foot in Gucci and Prada.

"He has made a very good living off rich tourists and London is a much safer place for them with him behind bars.'

In April, it emerged that scores of foreign prisoners have vanished after being controversially freed from prison pending deportation.

The convicts were released wearing tags because officials failed to complete the necessary paperwork to kick them out of Britain when they had completed their sentences.

Letters informing them they are each eligible for £3,000 in "repatriation expenses" have been sent to their last known addresses.