Phone thief returns handset after 21 texts from victim

Link: Phone thief repents after 21 persuasive text messages | World Wide Weird | The Australian

A Chinese thief has returned a mobile phone and thousands of yuan he stole from a woman after she sent him 21 touching text messages, Xinhua news agency reports.
Pan Aiying, a teacher in the eastern province of Shandong, had her bag containing her mobile phone, bank cards and 4,900 yuan ($800) snatched by a man riding a motorcycle as she cycled home on Friday, Xinhua said, citing the Qilu Evening News. Pan first thought of calling the police but she decided to try to persuade the young man to return her bag. She called her lost phone with her colleague’s cell phone but was disconnected. Then she began sending text messages.

She’s just lucky the thief hadn’t already fenced the handset and spent the cash.