Moment Farringdon thieves on moped perform lightning-fast double phone theft

Amy Ashenden|Mark Chandler25 February 2016
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This is the moment two moped-riding thieves swerve on to the pavement and swipe a phone from a woman’s hand before doing exactly the same thing to another man standing just feet away.

The opportunistic pair, captured on CCTV cameras outside the Piano Works bar in Fry Road, Farringdon, are seen driving past once before disappearing off screen.

Video then shows them speeding up the pavement alongside the bar, grabbing a shocked woman’s mobile before she has any time to react.

Another man standing further down the road to their left has his phone swiped just seconds later, before the thieves race away, swerving past a pedestrian.

A clip from a different camera shows the second theft from a closer angle as the moped passenger calmly reaches out and grabs the phone.

Theft: The phone is swiped from a woman's hand
CCTV Camera Europe

Eoin Clarke, director of CCTV Camera Europe, says he has shared the footage, filmed on February 16 at 5.22pm, as a warning to others.

He said: “If you look at the clip you can see the moped drive down the hill looking for people on their mobile phones. They swoop around and then they do a double theft on the pavement.

“It’s quite an unusual thing. He nearly knocks a couple of people over and gets away with it. It’s almost like it’s choreographed.”

Fast: A man has his phone taken seconds later
CCTV Camera Europe

Mr Clarke added: “This is really for public notice. You walk everywhere and everyone is looking at their phones. People need to watch out for people like this.

“No one likes losing their phone, it’s like losing your right hand.”

A spokeswoman for the Met Police confirmed the incident was being investigated by detectives from Operation Attrition, which tackles crimes carried out on mopeds.

She said: “At approximately 5.20pm a woman reported that while talking on her mobile phone, two men on a moped appeared and snatched the phone from her hand.

“A few moments later, and further up the street, a man also had his phone taken by two people on a moped.

“No arrests have been made.”

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