- Has YOUR phone been stolen in London? Email katherine.lawton@mailonline.co.uk
Horrifying footage shows the moment an Australian model had her mobile phone stolen for the second time in three months in a ‘safe’ neighbourhood.
Emma Van Der Hoek claimed the ordeal took place in broad daylight on Tuesday while she was walking alone along the pavement.
Dramatic CCTV footage shows the influencer looking down at her phone along a straight path.
A man dressed in black and wearing a face mask suddenly comes up behind her and snatches the mobile out her hand before sprinting round a corner.
Ms Van Der Hoek bravely chases after him but is not quite quick enough to catch up with the thief.
Another man also dressed in black appears to follow behind the thug and model as they sprint out of view.
Taking to Instagram to share the incident, the influencer wrote: ‘My phone got stolen yesterday in London!!! This is the second time in three months that this has happened – all within my so called “safe” neighbourhood.’
She then complained she had received abuse by online trolls, who blamed her for the daylight robbery.
‘This video is at nearly 500k views on TikTok and the amount of victim blaming comments is actually insane,’ she wrote.
‘People have got so used to theft in London that they’ve started blaming the victims instead of holding criminals accountable.
‘If you are one of the boys that stole my phone, return it and I’ll delete the video. If anyone’s knows anything, please message me!’
It comes as phone thefts in London have hit a record high with a shocking 37 people having their mobile stolen every day in the capital’s West End alone, it was reported last month.
Recent data revealed almost 231,000 phone thefts and robberies were recorded over the past four years in the capital, a threefold increase.
The epicentre for these brazen crimes is in the world’s theatre capital, the West End, a magnet for tourists where around 40,000 phones were reported stolen over the same period, data by the Metropolitan Police shows.
Phone thefts in London have soared to record levels, with organised gangs targeting busy areas such as the West End and St James’s, where luxury streets and royal residences sit side by side with swarms of unsuspecting tourists and shoppers.
One major hotspot identified is the area surrounding St James’s Park, where Piccadilly and Haymarket meet Pall Mall and Clarence House, home to exclusive members’ clubs and high-profile buildings.
Analysis by The Times show the West End and St James’s now account for a third of all phone thefts reported in the capital, up from a quarter in 2021.
Scotland Yard figures show a staggering 81,256 mobile phone crimes were recorded in 2023, a 20 per cent year-on-year rise, and the highest on record.
Police believe the true number is even higher, as many incidents go unreported.
Other major hotspots include Bloomsbury, Holborn, Covent Garden, Shoreditch, Borough, London Bridge, Waterloo, South Bank, Camden Town, Regent’s Park and Stratford.
Since 2022, theft rates have risen in more than 200 suburbs across the capital — meaning over a third of London is now affected by the growing crisis.
Most thefts are carried out by gangs on electric bikes, who either snatch phones directly from people’s hands or operate in crowded areas to pickpocket victims.
Police say the surge is fuelled by international black markets, where stolen devices are either sold on or stripped for parts — an illicit industry now worth over £50 million a year.
Officers are urging Londoners to stick to well-lit, busy areas, remain alert, and keep valuables out of sight to avoid falling prey to the increasingly brazen criminals.
