Undercover officers are wearing luxury watches as bait to catch robbers red-handed as they target wealthy visitors to London’s West End.
Footage released by the Metropolitan Police shows unwitting thieves being tasered, rugby-tackled and wrestled to the ground in Soho after trying to rip the high-value timepieces from their wrists.
The force has revealed the tactic for the first time and says it has driven down robberies after 300 watches worth around £4m were stolen across three boroughs in the capital between April and September 2022.
Investigators pinpointed “hotspots” in South Kensington, Chelsea, Soho and Mayfair where criminals were targeting victims – 98% of whom are men – as they left bars and nightclubs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 11pm and 4am.
The targets would be offered access to sex workers or drugs before being led down a side street or approached from behind.
Police said the “opportunist” crime gangs know exactly what they are looking for – Rolex, Patek Phillipe and Audemars Piguet watches that can be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Ben Russell, the commander responsible for covert operations, praised the “immense professionalism and dedication” of the undercover officers “volunteering to stand alone in a dark street in the middle of the night waiting to be robbed”.
An undercover officer struggles with robbers
Undercover officer falls to floor as colleagues pounce
In one clip, an undercover officer who had earlier been asked if he wanted to go to a brothel, walks with a robber as he is followed by four of his accomplices.
They surround him and pin him against the wall before running off when the police pounce, tasering one of the thieves as another is rugby-tackled to the ground.
Another robber is seen falling to the floor as he is tasered in a different clip after he and an accomplice, both wearing Nike bags, tried to rob an undercover officer they had earlier offered cannabis to.
One officer is seen having the watch ripped from his wrist after being taken into a side street by two men who had befriended him and in a fourth clip the officer falls to the ground as his colleagues pounce.
There were nearly 2,000 robberies – including 300 watches worth around £4m – across the boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham, between April and September 2022 – up 4% on the previous six-month period.
Some 31% of those took place in Soho, an area known for its nightlife, but which occupies just 1% of the total size of the three boroughs.
Police said two undercover operations saw reductions in watch robberies with the number across the three boroughs in the summer of 2023 half that of the previous year.
A total of 27 men were arrested, all of whom have been charged, with 14 of the 21 convicted so far sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison.
Aled Jones is among high-profile targets
Since 2015, the number of stolen watches recorded in England and Wales nearly doubled – from 6,696 then to 11,035 in 2022, according to data from Watchfinder & Co that was shared with Sky News last year. More than 6,000 of these thefts were in London.
High-profile targets include Songs Of Praise presenter Aled Jones, 52, who was robbed of his £17,000 Rolex watch by a teenager who threatened him with a machete.
Former world boxing champion Amir Khan, 36, was forced to hand over his £70,000 Franck Muller watch in a gunpoint robbery outside the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, east London, in April 2022.
And Formula One driver Lando Norris, 23, had his watch stolen as he left the Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium.
‘We don’t want people fighting back’
But police said that while gangs may watch celebrities for days or weeks before they strike, many robberies are opportunistic – although the criminals do set out with the intention of identifying vulnerable people who may be drunk or intoxicated outside bars and clubs in Soho.
Mr Russell said wearing a high-value watch in central London was a “personal choice” but advised people to be aware of their surroundings and wear clothes with long sleeves.
He also warned against walking around with your bag on display if the brand name is visible after buying a new watch and said you should get insurance and take a picture.
“It’s so easy to be distracted by headphones when you’re on your mobile phone, when you come out of the station, when you come out of the venue,” he said.
He said it’s hard to tell someone not to hand over a £100,000 watch but added: “We don’t want people fighting back, we don’t want people to be seriously hurt or injured.”
The suspended surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge has been named as paediatric consultant Kuldeep Stohr.
Eight hundred patients operated on by Ms Stohr are having their cases urgently re-examined, after an external review found nine children whose care fell below expected standards.
The initial review was ordered after concerns were raised by her colleagues.
Sky News has seen a copy of the interim report which details several issues relating to complex hip surgeries performed by the surgeon.
One of the parents whose child was identified in the review showed us a recent letter from the hospital which reported “problems with both judgement and technique” in her child’s surgery.
Ms Stohr, who has been suspended since the end of January, said in a statement: “I always strive to provide the highest standards of care to all my patients.
“I am co-operating fully with the trust investigation and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
Tammy Harrison: ‘It was hell’
Left in agonising pain
Tammy Harrison, 12, has cerebral palsy and had surgeries carried out by Ms Stohr. Her operations didn’t work, leaving her in agonising pain.
She said: “My first one was just like trauma. I couldn’t get out of bed for eight weeks. I was either stuck in bed or stuck on the sofa. It was hell.”
Her mum, Lynn, told Sky News: “There is nothing that can put Tammy back to where she was now and that’s the sad thing.
“If I could just click my fingers and have the child back that I had I would do it with a blink of an eye.”
Ms Stohr operated on Lynn Harrison’s daughter
So far, there’s been no confirmation of any wrongdoing in Tammy’s care.
But her family have a meeting at the hospital this week to find out more.
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The trust has asked a panel of specialist clinicians to review all the planned operations carried out by Ms Stohr at Addenbrooke’s. One hundred emergency trauma cases will also be looked at.
Addenbrooke’s is a major regional trauma centre and treats serious emergency patients from all over the region.
One clinician at the hospital told Sky News that the review of so many patients was “creating a lot of extra work”, which was “slowing things down” for other patients awaiting treatment.
Addenbrooke’s Hospital. File pic: PA
At least one extra locum consultant has been helping the team, as they work through the caseload.
Trust apologises
Sky News has been told Cambridge University Hospitals Trust had wanted to identify Ms Stohr before but had been threatened with a legal injunction.
The trust has apologised unreservedly to families and patients. But what’s troubling many is the fact concerns were raised about Ms Stohr a decade ago.
Chief executive of Cambridge University Hospitals Trust, Roland Sinker, has set up another review to examine whether opportunities were missed, and action could have been taken sooner.
The Department of Health described the ongoing situation as “incredibly concerning.”
Sir Keir Starmer promised “bold changes” as he announced he will relax rules around electric vehicles after carmakers were hit by Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The prime minister said “global trade is being transformed” after the US president‘s 25% levy on imported cars, and 10% tariff on other products, came into force.
Jaguar Land Rover has said the firm will “pause” shipments to the US as it looks to “address the new trading terms”.
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Labour made a manifesto pledge to restore a 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars after it had been rolled back to 2035 by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government.
Starmer promises to ‘back British business’. Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir will officially confirm the ban in an announcement on Monday but regulations around manufacturing targets on electric cars and vans will be altered, to help firms in the transition.
Luxury supercar firms such as Aston Martin and McLaren will still be allowed to keep producing petrol cars beyond the 2030 date, because they only manufacture a small number of vehicles per year.
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‘Nothing off the table’ over tariffs
Petrol and diesel vans will also be allowed to be sold until 2035, along with hybrids and plug-in hybrid cars.
The government is also going to make it easier for manufacturers who do not comply with the government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which sets sales targets, to avoid fines, and the levies will be reduced.
Sir Keir said: “I am determined to back British brilliance.
“Now more than ever UK businesses and working people need a government that steps up, not stands aside.
“That means action, not words.”
Officials have said support for the car industry will continue to be kept under review as the full impact of the tariffs announced last week becomes clear.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the industry deserves “clarity” in the economic context.
She said: “Our ambitious package of strengthening reforms will protect and create jobs, making the UK a global automotive leader in the switch to EVs, all the while meeting our core manifesto commitment to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.”
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Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said the government had “recognised the intense pressure manufacturers are under”, while Colin Walker, a transport analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said the ZEV mandate is a “global success story” in driving a surge in sales of electric vehicles.
It comes as KPMG warned US tariffs on UK exports could see GDP growth fall to 0.8% in 2025 and 2026.
The accountancy firm said higher tariffs on specific categories, such as cars, aluminium and steel, would more than offset the exemption on pharmaceutical exports, leaving the effective tariffs imposed on UK exports at around 12%.
Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said: “Given the economic impact that tariffs would cause, there is a strong incentive to seek a negotiated settlement that diminishes the need for tariffs. The UK automotive manufacturing sector is particularly exposed given the complex supply chains of some producers.”
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