Actor's Doppelganger Found Guilty

English court convicts thief in viral photo
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 15, 2019 6:30 PM CDT
David Schwimmer Lookalike Found Guilty of Thefts
FILE - This undated file photo released Wednesday Oct. 24, 2018, by Britain's Blackpool Police, shows an alleged thief bearing a striking resemblance to actor David Schwimmer, who played the character Ross Geller on the TV show "Friends." A British judge has issued an arrest warrant for an alleged shoplifter...   (Blackpool Police via AP, File)

David Schwimmer had an alibi, but Abdulah Husseini did not. So the latter was convicted of theft and fraud Thursday in England, the BBC reports. The case became infamous when Blackpool police posted a surveillance photo of a thief, who looked a lot like the actor who played Ross in Friends, carrying beer in a convenience store and looking at the camera. To make sure that police didn't think it was more a case of Schwimmer looking like the thief, the actor publicly declared his alibi. Prosecutors weren't amused by Husseini's act, calling him a "wandering, nomadic thief" in court. He has 32 prior convictions since 2008, the court was told.

Husseini stole a credit card from a man's wallet at a restaurant, then used it at shops in Blackpool. Prosecutors said he traveled the country and had committed crimes in England, Scotland and Wales. The judge told Husseini that he had an "appalling criminal history" but that he might be released soon, since half of his nine-month sentence has elapsed while he was awaiting trial. (More theft stories.)

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