Police launch manhunt for 'suspected bike thief who nabbed haul worth £10,000'

Richmond MPS shared this picture of their suspect
MPS Richmond
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Detectives are appealing for help to find a man they suspect of being behind up to £10,000 worth of bike thefts around London.

Metropolitan Police officers in Richmond want to speak to Francis Graham, 26, about a spree of thefts around Richmond, Twickenham, Kingston, Fulham and Hackney.

The force tweeted: “WANTED. Francis Graham, aged 26.

“Wanted for six offences in #Richmond, #Twickenham, #Kingston, #Fulham, and #Hackney in which almost £10,000 of bicycles were stolen between Oct 2019 and Jan 2020”.

It comes after about £50,000 worth of stolen private hire bikes were recovered in a multi-agency operation across London.

Officers from Scotland Yard's Operation Venice joined forces with Transport for London and private hire bike company Lime to recover 48 stolen hire cycles totalling nearly £48,000, plus five lost or stolen mopeds.

Three people were arrested following the week-long operation, which concluded on June 5.

Bike thefts have become commonplace in London in recent years. As increasing numbers of Londoners take to cycling in a bid to avoid public transport, the Met are urging people to ensure their bicycles stay safe.

Siwan Hayward, Director of Compliance, Policing and On-street Services at TfL, said in a statement: “Given the role of cycling in London’s safe and sustainable recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, bike theft is an especially worrying crime today.

"We continue to work closely with the Metropolitan Police Service to tackle bike theft and will do all we can to help ensure the risk of crime doesn’t deter people from cycling.

“We’d like to remind the public that we’re using GPS-tracking on our Santander Cycles scheme and stolen bikes will be retrieved. We hope that these arrests send a strong message to offenders that theft won’t be tolerated.”

Private bike owners are encouraged to visit the Met’s website for crime prevention advice, which includes tips such as using a secure D-lock and registering their bike at bikeregister.com.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call Richmond MPS on 07769 932 337 and quote 0701215/20.

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