The number of thefts committed in London by criminals on bicycles is rocketing, with offences tripling in the past three years.
Figures released by Scotland Yard revealed that the vast majority of these thefts were of mobile phones from pedestrians. Police warned that people texting or calling while walking were being targeted by muggers who escaped on bikes.
The figures, released by the Met after a Freedom of Information request, show that there were 3,754 thefts by people on bicycles last year, compared with 2,563 in 2011 and 1,214 in 2010. This includes all thefts, including from cars and shops.
However, 3,394 of the thefts were of mobile phones from pedestrians, compared with 731 in 2010. The number of robberies committed by people on bikes also rose from 765 in 2010 to 879 last year.
Police record most phone snatches by bike thieves as “thefts” rather than “robberies” because they say the offences do not involve violence.
In December last year, actress Annette Mason, wife of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, was walking on Hampstead Heath when her iPhone was snatched from her hand by a mugger on a bicycle. She said: “All I saw was the back of a quilted jacket. It happened in half a second.”
Detective Chief Inspector Bob Mahoney, head of the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit, said: “If somebody’s on a pushbike and they see someone with a mobile phone or a handbag, they can quickly catch it and then get away very quickly.”
Rachel Griffin, director of the personal safety charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said the increased number of bike lanes on pavements had made people more vulnerable to muggers on bicycles.
