London: Police are claiming progress in tackling mobile phone theft across the capital after years of worsening headlines about thieves who brazenly snatch devices from residents and tourists on the street.
A stronger police presence is being named as a key factor in halving the number of phone thefts in the West End over the past year – and many visitors to the centre of the city appear to be more relaxed about the risks.
But the new figures show that there are still thousands of thefts from individuals across the city each week, despite years of concern about gangs shipping stolen phones in bulk to markets in destinations ranging from Algeria to China.
“The figures are clear: London is safe and getting safer each year,” said the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Mark Rowley.
“Neighbourhood policing is the foundation of what we do – and neighbourhood crime is down 14 per cent across the capital.”
The tougher action meant there were 35,000 fewer offences across a range of neighbourhood crimes over the year to the end of June, including mobile phone theft.
This means the number of offences each year fell from 250,000 to 215,000.
The biggest reduction in neighbourhood crime – 36 per cent – was recorded in Westminster, the area that includes tourist highlights such as Big Ben, the major theatres, Piccadilly and Buckingham Palace.
London became infamous for mobile phone theft over the past few years after videos spread on social media showing young men in black balaclavas, often on e-bikes, grabbing phones from victims on the street.
In one case, a victim tracked their stolen iPhone using the “Find My iPhone” feature and located the device in a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. When police gained entry to the warehouse to look for the stolen property, they found it in a box with another 894 phones due to be shipped to China.
That led to the arrest of Amir Muhammad Khadikhel and Ismat Miakhel in north-east London last September on suspicion of handling about 2000 stolen phones. The two men, along with an accomplice, pleaded guilty in April. Police said their network trafficked up to 40,000 stolen phones to China over two years.
In a separate case, Algerian national Adel Kerari was convicted of six counts of robbery after he and fellow gang members robbed, assaulted and stabbed victims at stations on the London Underground. He targeted lone passengers to steal their phones and wallets.
Kerari was sentenced last month to three years and nine months in prison after prosecutors appealed a lighter sentence he received last year.
The impact on victims can be far greater than the loss of the device. In November 2024, four men with ties to Algeria were convicted of smuggling stolen phones out of the UK. They were also found to have used phones to gain access to bank and cryptocurrency accounts, stealing £5.1 million ($9.7 million).
The police have been publicising their new methods to disrupt thieves, such as facial recognition cameras and overhead drones that can track offenders on their bikes.
“We have momentum which we’re not going to give up on,” Rowley told the BBC last week, when the annual figures were released.
When The Sunday Times investigated mobile phone theft in March last year, it estimated that 28 per cent of the devices were shipped to Algeria, while 20 per cent went to China and 7 per cent to Hong Kong.
A phone reported stolen in Britain may still be used in China on networks that do not subscribe to global blocking agreements, and it may have a higher value because it could be used to circumvent Chinese government network controls.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan claimed credit for some of the improvement by citing a decision funded by City Hall to set up a “command cell” in the West End to identify thieves and prevent robberies.
“In the West End alone, we have seen phone thefts halved and 14,000 fewer neighbourhood crimes, following a doubling of officers on patrol in the heart of the capital,” he said.
Travellers and residents appear relaxed about the risk of theft on the streets of the capital, with many walking while looking at their phones in areas known for theft, such as Oxford Street, Chelsea, and Westminster.
The headlines about phone snatching have not shifted behaviour for some pedestrians on London streets, with many holding their phones out to check for directions or take selfies, even if they are near passing bikes.
Crime rates have fallen across England and Wales over the past decade in categories such as homicide, firearms offences and violence against others.
Store owners in London, however, have been worried by a long-term rise in shoplifting and increasing threats against retail workers.
Under pressure from retailers, the government introduced a new standalone criminal offence for assaulting a retail worker, and it removed a £200 threshold for “low-level theft” – a rule that was blamed for making it too easy for shoplifters to go unpunished for multiple thefts as long as each theft was below the threshold.
Police recorded 1.6 million theft offences across England and Wales in the year to March, a fall of 8 per cent.
“Following a period of increases in shoplifting, there has been a 4 per cent decrease to 507,086 offences,” the Office for National Statistics said when it released new figures last Thursday.
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.