Twin brothers sentenced for mobile phone scam

The Bayat brothers sold fake iPhones on Facebook marketplace

Teenage twins who sold fake mobile phones online and later attacked a police officer, with one gouging the man's eye, have been given community orders.

Leon and Lewis Bayat, both 19, sold three counterfeit iPhones on Facebook with seven more seized from their Peterlee home in January 2023, Teesside Crown Court heard.

In April last year, they attacked police after being ordered to leave a Travelodge near Gateshead with Leon plunging a finger into an officer's eye.

Both brothers admitted fraud by false representation and assault causing actual bodily harm and were given 12-month community orders.

The pair advertised phones for sale on Facebook marketplace under a fake name, prosecutor Liam O'Brien said.

Three men bought what they thought were iPhone 14 Pro Max devices, the first swapping a £1,800 phone and the other two paying £750 and £820 respectively, the court heard.

They were found to be counterfeit and police traced the sales back to the twins.

Officers raided the brothers' then-home on Basingstoke Road in March 2023 and found seven more counterfeit phones.

'Hell-bent on violence'

In April 2024, a manager at a Travelodge near the A1 at Gateshead went to the brothers' room after they failed to check out after a lengthy stay.

He found camping stoves, a sock placed over the smoke alarm and evidence people had been smoking.

When confronted, the brothers became aggressive, were told to leave and warned they were banned from all the chain's hotels, Mr O'Brien said.

The pair crossed the A1 and tried to check into the Travelodge opposite but again were told to leave, which they refused to do.

Police were called due to the brothers' "belligerent" behaviour and they attacked a male officer when he tried to arrest them, Mr O'Brien said.

Leon repeatedly punched him and pushed a finger into his eye, Mr O'Brien said, while Lewis was also violent.

In a statement read to the court, the officer said he feared he would lose his eye and the twins had seemed "hell-bent on violence".

In mitigation, lawyers said the teenagers, both now of no fixed abode, had had a "horrific" childhood and experienced a "lack of care" since they were three years old leading to an overwhelming dependence on one another.

The court heard they had spent the equivalent of a year in jail while being held on remand and both had requested help to turn their lives around which a community order should provide.