An Algerian asylum seeker who stole luggage from airline passengers outside Heathrow Airport during an £8,000 crime spree to pay for cocaine has been jailed.

Karime Boudina, 37, helped himself to suitcases and rucksacks from travellers outside the airport, which were worth more than £3,000.

While he was already under investigation for a separate theft, Boudina travelled to Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 on November 3, 2025, when he swiped the luggage.

Earlier that year, he was caught wheeling a stolen suitcase containing property worth £4,175 out of a coffee shop in Praed Street, Paddington, in breach of a previous court order banning him from setting foot in the area.

Boudina was previously convicted of robbing a ‘high-value watch’ from a victim in Westminster in 2023, receiving a 15-month sentence and a five-year banning order from the area.

Judge Dafna Spiro said: ‘The offence took place in Westminster on April 5, 2025, which is somewhat remarkable, because in 2023 you were convicted of robbery of a high-value theft in the Westminster area.

‘You were made subject to a criminal behaviour order for five years, as well as receiving a prison sentence of 15 months.

‘You knew perfectly well you were not allowed to be in that area, so you were in breach of that criminal behaviour order and not for the first time, as you were convicted for a breach on August 1 last year.’

Karime Boudina travelled to Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 (pictured) on November 3, 2025, where he helped himself to suitcases and rucksacks from travellers outside the airport

Since he arrived in the UK in 2010, Boudina, who has used 21 aliases with six different dates of birth, has racked up eight convictions for 11 offences, the judge added.

The judge said: ‘It seems to me that this is a professional thief, and that the victims are targeted and there is a level of planning and sophistication in targeting people who have luggage.

‘This is a man who is not helping himself and not really helping the court.’

She told Boudina: ‘You knew you were under investigation when on November 3 you committed a third offence of theft from [Heathrow Airport] Terminal 5.’

Boudina, of Colnbrook, Slough, Berkshire, admitted conspiracy to steal, three counts of theft, theft from a person and breach of a criminal behaviour order.

He was jailed for two years and eight months, which includes nine months for the breach of a previous criminal behaviour order to be served consecutively.

Addressing Boudina, Judge Spiro said: ‘I am told your immigration status is unclear, that you were refused asylum, but that you have a renewed application, but that is not up to this court… Whatever happens will happen in due course.’

Defending, Karina Arden said: ‘He has been here for some years now [but] he says his offending got worse in recent years because he has an addiction to cocaine.

‘Since he has been in custody, six months to the date, he has really started to think very much about where his life is going.

‘He says he is 37 years of age now, he feels very much that if he doesn’t do something with his life, he is going to be going nowhere.’

The Algerian is likely to be subject to automatic deportation once his sentence is served, the court heard.

The judge ordered no costs beyond the victim surcharge, saying: ‘I don’t suppose Mr Boudina has got any money.’

London has seen a spate of luxury thefts in recent years, with Algerian nationals featuring prominently among suspects ending up in court. Robbers usually operate as part of organised criminal networks, with items quickly exported for sale abroad.

Earlier this year, an Algerian robber was jailed for stealing a Vietnamese tourist’s £65,000 watch in London.

Allai Ismail, 30, grabbed the Patek Philippe watch from Viet Nguyen in Notting Hill, west London, on August 7, 2024, but was caught after police took DNA from his AirPods, which he dropped at the scene, and Mr Nguyen’s wrist.

Ismail, of Cricklewood, north London, admitted robbery and was jailed for three years at Southwark Crown Court. 

Another Algerian migrant was also jailed for targeting wealthy shoppers in Mayfair for their luxury watches.

Abdulkarim Ienbuzir, 25, stole more than £100,000 of high-value timepieces during a crime spree in the capital last summer.

The ‘systematic predator’ stole a £5,000 Cartier watch, £18,000 Hublot and £85,000 Patek Phillipe timepiece from three victims over three months.

He tried to claim he was only in London to check on his asylum application and just happened to get involved with a robbery gang.

Aided by an Arabic interpreter, Ienbuzir, of Liverpool, was jailed for four and a half years at Southwark Crown Court in April.

In 2024, an Algerian thief swiped a whisky executive’s Givenchy handbag from a Soho pub – not realising it contained a £2million Fabergé egg and watch.

Enzo Conticello, 29, targeted Rosie Dawson, director of premium bands at Craft Irish Whiskey, as she greeted a friend outside the Dog and Duck pub in Bateman Street.

Footage shows him trying to steal another customer’s bag inside the pub before heading outside and swiping Ms Dawson’s designer handbag that had been left on the floor.

Conticello also took his victim’s laptop and credit cards, which he used to buy himself a drink and cigarettes in a nearby Co-Op and Nisa Local.

The handbag belonging to Ms Dawson – who is still employed by Craft Irish Whiskey – contained a rare Fabergé egg and watch which had been on display at an event earlier in the evening, as well as her computer and purse.

Both the egg and watch remain missing after the theft on November 7, 2024. 

In April, Conticello was sentenced for theft and three charges of fraud by misrepresentation, after using bank cards to purchase cigarettes and other goods at supermarkets in the Soho area.

The Fabergé egg and watch, which belong to the Craft Irish Whiskey Company, have never been recovered and Conticello claims he ‘gave them away’.