Metropolitan Police release footage of luxury watch robbers caught as they target undercover officers
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.”
UK
‘I recognise the error and upset caused’ – Gary Lineker releases statement as BBC departure confirmed
Gary Lineker has confirmed reports he is leaving the BBC after this season’s Match Of The Day and will no longer present its World Cup coverage.
It comes after the 64-year-old “apologised unreservedly” for sharing a social media post illustrated with a rat – which has been used to represent Jewish people in antisemitic propaganda, including Nazi Germany.
In a statement on Monday, Lineker said: “Football has been at the heart of my life for as long as I can remember – both on the pitch and in the studio.
Read more: A history of Gary Lineker’s most controversial posts
“I care deeply about the game, and about the work I’ve done with the BBC over many years. As I’ve said, I would never consciously repost anything antisemitic – it goes against everything I stand for.
“However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.”
Lineker has fronted Match Of The Day since 1999. PA
Lineker said he deleted the post when he learned about the rat’s symbolism, adding that he would “never knowingly share anything antisemitic”.
In a video posted to Instagram, the pundit added: “I’ve stood up for minorities and humanitarian issues and against all forms of racism all of my life, including, of course, antisemitism, which I absolutely abhor.
“There’s no place for it and never should be.”
He went on to thank the “brilliant, talented” people he has worked with and described his relationship with the BBC as “long and wonderful”.
He added: “But it’s the right time for the organisation and myself to go our separate ways.”
Lineker’s last appearance on the BBC will be on Sunday 25 May, the final day of the season.
‘A defining voice in football coverage’
Also confirming Lineker’s exit, BBC director general Tim Davie said: “Gary has acknowledged the mistake he made. Accordingly, we have agreed he will step back from further presenting after this season.
“Gary has been a defining voice in football coverage for the BBC for over two decades. His passion and knowledge have shaped our sports journalism and earned him the respect of sports fans across the UK and beyond.
“We want to thank him for the contribution he has made.”
Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will share the role of presenting Match of the Day. Pic BBC/PA
The former England star announced in November he would step down from Match Of The Day this year, but was set to return to front the World Cup in 2026, as well as FA Cup coverage.
The presenter was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then Conservative government’s asylum policy.
He will be replaced on Match Of The Day by Gabby Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman, who will share the presenting role from the next Premier League season.
Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years.
He is also the co-founder of podcast producing company Goalhanger, which makes the popular The Rest Is History series and its spin-offs about politics, football, entertainment and money.
Lineker parting ways with the BBC also includes the licensing deal for Goalhanger podcast titles on BBC Sounds which ends this year, the PA news agency reported.
A “significant amount of personal data” of people who applied to the Legal Aid Agency – including criminal records – was accessed and downloaded by hackers, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said.
The group that carried out the cyber attack says it accessed 2.1 million pieces of data, but the MoJ has not verified that figure, it is understood.
The government became aware of the incident on 23 April, but realised on Friday it was more extensive than first thought.
An MoJ source put the breach down to the “neglect and mismanagement” of the previous government, saying vulnerabilities in the Legal Aid Agency systems have been known for many years.
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA), is an executive agency, sponsored by the MoJ, which is responsible for administering legal aid funding – around £2.3bn in 2023/24.
The data accessed affected those who applied for legal aid in the last 15 years, and may include contact details and addresses of legal aid applicants, their dates of birth, national insurance numbers, criminal history, employment status and financial data such as contribution amounts, debts and payments.
The MoJ has urged anyone who applied for legal aid since 2010 to update any passwords that could have been exposed, and be alert to unknown messages and phone calls.
The organisation’s digital services, which are used by legal aid providers to log their work and get paid, have been taken offline.
‘We needed to take radical action’
Legal Aid Agency chief executive Jane Harbottle has apologised for the breach and acknowledged the news would be “shocking and upsetting”.
“Since the discovery of the attack, my team has been working around the clock with the National Cyber Security Centre to bolster the security of our systems so we can safely continue the vital work of the agency,” she said.
“However, it has become clear that, to safeguard the service and its users, we needed to take radical action. That is why we’ve taken the decision to take the online service down,” she said.
Ms Harbottle said contingency plans are in place for those who need legal support and advice.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Retail disruption to ‘last months’
The Law Society, an organisation representing solicitors across the UK, blamed the attack on Legal Aid’s “antiquated IT system”.
“The incident once again demonstrates the need for sustained investment to bring the LAA’s antiquated IT system up to date and ensure the public have continued trust in the justice system,” said a Law Society spokesperson.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it is working with the National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre to investigate the data breach.
The National Crime Agency said it was aware of the incident and was working closely with the MoJ to “better understand the incident and support the department”.
It comes after retailers Co-op, Harrods and Marks & Spencer were hit by cyber attacks, although there is no suggestion that they are connected to the incident at the LAA.
The Who’s drummer Zak Starkey has been sacked by the band, marking the second time he has left in the past month.
The band’s guitarist Pete Townshend made a statement on Instagram on Sunday, saying: “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change.
“A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”
The announcement comes weeks before the iconic British rock group’s farewell tour.
In response, Starkey, who had been a band member since 1996, said in an Instagram post he would “never have quit” and had experienced “weeks of mayhem”.
“I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit to follow my other musical endeavours,” he wrote.
“Not true. I love The Who and would never have quit and let down so many amazing people who stood up for me through all this madness.”
Reports surfaced in April that the band had taken the “collective decision” to sack Starkey after a row over their Teenage Cancer Trust shows in March.
Roger Daltrey and Starkey on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in March. Pic: PA
A review of one gig, published in the Metro, suggested frontman Roger Daltrey, who launched the annual gig series for the charity in 2000, had been “frustrated” with the drumming during some tracks.
According to the review, Daltrey at one point paused a song and said: “To sing that song I do need to hear the key, and I can’t. All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry guys.”
At the time, the 59-year-old drummer said he was “surprised and saddened” by news of his sacking.
Three days after the reports came out, a statement on the band’s official social media pages titled “News Flash! Who Backs Zak,” said he was “not being asked to step down from The Who”.
Read more:
Inside Diddy’s star-studded parties
Austria wins Eurovision
In it, Townshend said: “There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.
“Roger and I would like Zak to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line-up and he has readily agreed.”
Later in the lengthy statement, he said regarding the gigs: “Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised.”
At that point, Starkey – who is the son of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr – reposted Townshend’s statement, with the message: “V grateful to be a part of the Who family Thanks Roger and Pete xx”.
Starkey also drums for supergroup Mantra Of The Cosmos – along with fellow musicians Shaun Ryder and Bez from Happy Mondays, and Andy Bell of Ride and Oasis – and has previously played with Oasis, Lightning Seeds and Johnny Marr.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway