A man has been banned from several health and fitness centers and sentenced to 27 months in jail after he stole gym members’ locker PINs and used them to access their bank accounts, authorities said.

Declan Murphy, 35, from Bromley, England, pleaded guilty on January 17 to three counts of theft and 11 counts of fraud by false representation, according to the City of London Police. He also received a “Criminal Behavior Order” that bans him from entering certain gyms across the country.

On September 13, 2024, Murphy went to a London-area gym, watched another member enter a four-digit PIN to lock his belongings, and memorized it. He then opened the locker using the same PIN... Continue reading here ▶

Since the man used the same PIN for his phone and bank cards, Murphy stole the bank cards and deliberately damaged the phone by soaking it, so the owner couldn’t quickly cancel his cards or check his accounts. This gave Murphy more time to use the stolen cards.

Murphy withdrew £500 (about \$609) from a nearby ATM and tried to buy £5,400 (about \$6,575) worth of goods at an Apple Store, but that larger purchase was declined.

Police say he had committed two similar crimes in June and was out on bail at the time of the September incident. He also used membership cards under fake names to access different gym chains.

Judge Edward Connell described Murphy’s actions as “pre-planned” and “well-practiced.” Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Ines urged gym users to pay attention to how criminals like Murphy operate.

“People expect their items to be safe in gym lockers,” he said. “Unfortunately, this case shows that criminals do watch PIN entries. Do not use the same PIN for your locker, phone, and bank cards.”