Moment masked phone thief gets instant karma after snatching device in front of undercover Met Police officers

This is the satisfying infinitesimal a telephone thief was pinched by undercover cops aft shamelessly stealing someone's phone.

The masked thug was seen legging it down a engaged roadworthy adjacent to bustling London Bridge presumption erstwhile an unmarked constabulary conveyance spotted the thief running.

The tiny achromatic car was driving successful the other absorption down Tooley Street but rapidly swung circular to pursuit the suspect.

Smugly reasoning they got distant with it, the thief and his person had slowed to locomotion arsenic they approached a crossing.

The undercover bull car pulls successful beforehand and an serviceman instantly jumps out, sprinting aft the thieving brace who soon realise what has happened.

As karma would person it, the plain-clothed serviceman past pulls him to the crushed earlier arresting the masked thug - little than 60 seconds aft helium archetypal snatched the mobile.

Luckily, the proprietor past gets their telephone backmost successful a fortunate twist of fate.

But astir won't beryllium truthful lucky, arsenic the superior saw much than 70,000 phones stolen successful 2024, according to Met Police statistics. 

It is thought telephone snatching could outgo consumers up to £70 cardinal each twelvemonth but is thought to thought to beryllium a important underestimate of the existent standard of the problem, arsenic the information lone includes thefts reported to the force.

Mobile telephone thefts person tripled successful the past 4 years arsenic transgression pack members riding e-bikes assistance fuel a booming export commercialized to countries including China and Nigeria.

Shockingly immoderate 40 percent of each London telephone snatches take spot successful Westminster and the West End. 

Despite being immoderate of the astir exclusive postcodes successful the capital no 1 is excessively famous, excessively rich, oregon excessively beloved by the British nationalist for these shameless yobs to beryllium diverted from stealing lavish goods.  

It comes arsenic Jenson Button's wife, Brittany, revealed she present feels 'unsafe' successful the bustling metropolis aft her suitcase rammed with £250,000 of lavish jewellery and decorator handbags was stolen extracurricular of St Pancras station.

The 34-year-old explained however the ex-Formula One operator was helping the chauffeur load the car erstwhile a antheral swooped successful and sped distant with her Goyard carry-on suitcase successful specified seconds.

The erstwhile Playboy exemplary told MailOnline that neither she nor her hubby had immoderate involvement successful returning to the UK pursuing their ordeal, adding: 'It conscionable feels truthful unsafe... and its conscionable unfortunate due to the fact that that's wherever my children's grandma and aunts live.'

From Made successful Chelsea stars similar Jamie Laing to Loose Women's Christine Lampard, gangs are known to rip shiny Rolexes from the wrists of unassuming pedestrians, snatch pricey mobile phones retired of hands and adjacent smash car windows for £1,000 Stone Island jackets.

And it was lone successful March that TV property Jamie Laing revealed helium had been robbed erstwhile again, conscionable a week aft his Notting Hill location was targeted by balaclava-wearing intruders.  

Shortly aft the terrifying ordeal, wherever helium and his woman Sophie Habboo, 30, were woken up to 6am by louds bangs, helium discovered his car had been breached into.

Speaking connected his Radio 1 show, Jamie said: 'So, I unrecorded successful London, I was with my woman Sophie and we went to get successful our car.

'It's parked astir the spot we live, and it's London right, things possibly spell missing occasionally oregon whatever.

'I walked up to the car, and the car looked a small spot funny, the doorway was somewhat open, and I was like, 'hang connected a second, has idiosyncratic managed to get into the car?'

'Came up to the car and we had been robbed. They near the pineapple successful 1 spot and the melon successful different seat. I said to my wife, 'did you permission these successful the car?' and she was like, 'no?', truthful I don't cognize if it's a motion oregon the people they leave.'

And successful Knightsbridge, a Tesla car proprietor besides fell unfortunate to theft aft a masked cyclist smashed the vehicle's rear model and stole a £1,000 Stone Island jacket, which was precocious purchased from Harrods.

Shocking footage obtained from the costly American car shows up the infinitesimal the brazen thief spotted the car, parked up his motorcycle and past smashed the backmost window.

The CCTV strategy gave a wide representation of the cycling thief's body, but owed to his look covering, constabulary person astir nary accidental of a statement arsenic each that was disposable was his eyes.

The Met Police person been contacted for remark but commandant Owain Richards had antecedently told MailOnline: 'We recognize the interaction that mobile telephone theft tin person connected victims – it's an invasive and sometimes convulsive transgression - and we're committed to protecting Londoners and tackling this contented arsenic we marque the superior safer.

'Met officers are targeting resources to hotspot areas, specified arsenic Westminster, Lambeth and Newham, with accrued patrols and plain apparel officers which deter criminals and marque officers much visibly disposable to members of the community.

'We proceed to usage information and exertion to physique quality and way stolen items to people offenders. We are besides moving with telephone firms to 'design out' the quality for phones to beryllium reused and sold connected arsenic we question to dismantle the transgression marketplace that fuels robbery and theft.

'We promote radical to study arsenic soon arsenic they tin whenever they person been a unfortunate of mobile telephone theft, truthful officers tin analyse swiftly.'