O2 employee pinches 252 Iphone 5 handsets ahead of launch

A PESKY O2 employee allegedly has pinched 252 Iphone 5 handsets from an O2 store in London, according to a report from ITV.

The allegedly felonious O2 staffer, who is now missing, was caught on CCTV lifting the Iphone 5 handsets from the O2 store in Wimbledon, South West London, in an incident which is said to have taken place just hours before the Iphone 5 went on sale an 8am this morning.

This isn't the only Iphone 5 launch day hiccup O2 has experienced today. We've also heard that the mobile operator has been having some IT issues this morning, which has meant that some Apple fanbois walked away from O2 stores empty handed.

However, the mobile network has told us that its systems are now back up. A spokesperson said, "Some of our stores are experiencing a slow connection process through our IT system but we're trading as normal."

The INQUIRER team was down at Apple's flagship Regent's Street store for the Iphone 5 launch this morning, which was met by record queues. That's not all that surprising given the handset's upgraded specifications, which include a 4in Retina display, Apple's dual-core A6 processor, IOS 6, an enhanced 8MP camera and a slim 7.3mm body. µ