These were the tactics of two brazen thieves who travelled from the Midlands to Liverpool to "drunkenly" hug and dance with drinkers while secretly stealing their wallets and phones.
Abdul Boychaala, 30, and Hussen Ehab, 26, preyed mostly on students and pretended to be drunk as they distracted their targets.
After locking legs and forcing them off balance the pair removed mobile phones from their victims’ pockets and sauntered away from the scene.
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Distracted by the sudden - seemingly friendly - attention the victims often did not realise they’d had their phones stolen until well after Boychaala and Ehab had left the scene.
The thieves were jailed last Friday for seven offences in Nottingham, but also in relation to a copycat incident in Liverpool when they had travelled to Merseyside.
That happened on September 13 and there were several other incidents where victims had initially not reported the thefts.
Boychaala and Ehab struck in Nottingham between January 18 and February 1 last year often in the early hours of the morning, taking advantage of people who were drunk.
They were jailed for 28 months each at Nottingham Crown Court.
Detective Constable Richard Evans, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: " “Boychaala and Ehab are brazen and calculating thieves who were led by their own greed and recklessness to commit a string of very serious offences.
“Their preferred method may have appeared clumsy, but it was a finely-honed and effective distraction technique that allowed them to steal many thousands of pounds worth of mobile phones.
“This offending took place again and again as the pair grew in confidence – convinced that they would continue to get away with what they had been doing.
“But what they hadn’t reckoned on was the determination of Nottinghamshire Police and the very extensive CCTV network that helps to keep people safe in Nottingham city centre. By thoroughly reviewing this evidence against witness statements we were able to build such an overwhelming case against these two men that they had little choice but to plead guilty.
“I hope this case serves as a reminder to other similarly minded criminals – that if you come to Nottingham to prey on people enjoying a night out we will catch up with you and you will be punished.”
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