Stealing mobiles is a rapidly expandng crime but it could be curtailed if the mobile, once stolen, was rendered useless by being disabled.

This is , apparently a very simple solution as even if you have long since lost your phones details they can be retrieved from the phone itself.

The following advice was posted in an English provincial newspaper...

If you dial ... star/hash/06/hash .... you will see a 17 digit number , this is the identification (IMEI) number of the phone . If you then contact your network provider with that number, the phone can be disabled and made absolutely useless.