By Rory Tingle, Mailonline’s Home Affairs Correspondent
February 9, 2024 16:49, Updated February 9, 2024 17:00
Robberies in London’s West End have tripled in the past two years, raising concerns that a crime wave threatens the future of the shopping district popular with wealthy tourists.
The number of human thefts in the area around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square rose to 2,806 last year, compared to 796 in 2021, new figures show.
Theft, including pickpocketing and shoplifting, now accounts for around 60% of crime in the West End. The figures were compiled by the Heart of London Business Alliance, which represents 600 local retailers, restaurants and property owners.
Ross Morgan, the group’s chief executive, told the Telegraph: “Retail crime in the West End is a threat not just to businesses but to the whole community, and luxury goods are no exception.”
“In 2023, there was a significant spike in shoplifting across the West End, as well as an increase in thefts. We have long called for increased police presence to deter criminal activity and instill a sense of security.”
Nicky Aiken, MP for London and Westminster, warned that the situation had worsened since the pandemic and called for more police on the streets.
Prominent businessman Devin Narang recently used his meeting with Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, to urge Indian executives to postpone a visit to London for fear of becoming victims of crime. I warned him that he was doing it.
“People are being robbed in Mayfair, central London. All Indian CEOs have experience of physical robberies, but the police did not respond,” Narang said.
The warning comes as British and Indian officials continue to negotiate a long-delayed new trade deal following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union in 2016.
Street crime was rampant in London last year, with theft from another person increasing by 27% compared to the previous 12 months.
According to Metropolitan Police Department statistics, 72,756 crimes were reported in the year to 2023, up from 57,468 in 2022.
Moped and e-bike gangs have been identified as culprits in many cases.
“It’s true that Indians are carrying expensive items with them, but it’s a concern that the police aren’t taking action,” Narang told the Financial Times.
“London is a walking city. You don’t want to be looking over your shoulder all the time. You don’t want to be in a city where you’re likely to get robbed on the street.
“It doesn’t make you feel comfortable. You can walk everywhere in Delhi and you don’t get robbed.”
He argued that police were often indifferent or slow to respond to such crimes.
In April 2022, former British boxing champion Amir Khan was accosted by a gunman who made off with a £72,000 custom watch as he left a restaurant in east London.
And in July last year, a machete-wielding teenager targeted broadcaster and former choirboy Aled Jones and robbed him of a £17,000 Rolex.
Scotland Yard has revealed how a squad of undercover officers posing as victims carried out an unprecedented operation to catch the so-called ‘Rolex Ripper’ responsible for a spate of violent watch robberies across the capital last month. revealed that.
In Soho, also part of the Westminster area, thieves tend to target wealthy victims leaving pubs and clubs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 11pm and 4am. As a result of the analysis, plainclothes police officers volunteered to go out wearing valuable watches.
Twenty-seven people were arrested and subsequently charged in two operations conducted from October 2022 to December 2022 and from March 2023 to October 2023.
Of these, 21 were convicted and 14 were sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison.
The Mayor of London’s Office said: ‘The Met is stepping up its response to the rising number of robberies across the country, deploying specialist teams to aggressively target the highest crime offenders and robbery hotspots. ” he said.