This is the shocking moment a brazen thief steals a young child’s scooter.
A ‘furious’ Barbara Graham-Taylor, 44, caught the opportunistic passerby peep into her front garden in north London and grab her son Leo’s toy before shamelessly sauntering off.
The learning support teacher said her 10-year-old ‘sobbed’ when he found out it was missing and has left the family feeling unsafe in their area after the ‘violation’.
‘It’s not about the value of it but the sentiment and the emotion attached to it – it was his favourite thing in the whole world,’ she told MailOnline.
‘He was devastated, he sobbed when we told him, he could not believe it.
‘He was so angry but we had to try explain to him that sometimes things like this happen and we have to take it as it is – even if it is wrong that we have to take more precautions now.’
Ms Graham-Taylor, who has lived in the Finchley area for more than 20 years, said this was a ‘family place’ and ‘never felt anxious’ about her neighbourhood.
The family noticed the scooter was missing the day after the theft when the teacher would usually bring it along to pick-up time at her son’s school.
But after it was stolen, as well as several other break-ins in the area, she said she is increasingly scared of ‘the world we are starting to live in’.
Ms Graham-Taylor shared the video in a local community chat to try warn others about the shameless thief and was shocked to get responses from neighbours that the woman had done similar depraved acts to their property.
While others criticised Ms Graham-Taylor for leaving the scooter on her porch, she emphasised that ‘it was on our property, not on the street’.
‘I’ve always felt safe in my area but now I’ve started hiding everything,’ she added.
But not all faith was lost in the Graham-Taylor household.
A kind stranger donated their son’s scooter to Leo so he could ride to school again.
Ms Graham-Taylor said it was an ’emotional moment’ when the neighbour dropped it round and helped her ‘believe in the community again’.
‘I’m just thankful for the kindness of strangers. There’s a happy ending here, that’s how we’re trying to look at it.’
Metropolitan Police have been contacted for comment.
The theft comes only days after another woman captured the moment a brazen ‘thief’ tried to break into her mother’s car whilst she was filming a TikTok video.
Madison Bush, 19, was cleaning her room and recording a video for a friend when she noticed a man and woman standing outside her home in what appeared to be a heated argument.
But the scene quickly took a dramatic turn as the hairdressing student from Ashurst, Kent, glanced out of the window, only to spot the man allegedly trying to break into her mother’s car in broad daylight.
Acting on instinct, Madison threw open her window and confronted the suspected thief, interrupting the brazen attempt as the situation unfolded just metres from her family home.
Speaking to MailOnline, the 19-year-old said: ‘I was just sending a video to my boyfriend’s sister of me cleaning my room and jamming and saw the two people outside.
‘It was a man and a woman, and they were standing outside my house, and it looked like they were arguing.
‘I thought nothing of it at first because they walked away, but then the guy came back around my house.
‘He tried the door to my [mum’s] car, and I literally had the adrenaline rush of opening my window to shout at him.
‘He was clearly trying to find any cash or things of value that he could take because he wouldn’t have been able to take the car without the keys.’
In the video, which was shared on social media, the man, wearing a black hoodie, black trousers and some white trainers, seemingly tried to open the car.
After seeing this, she quickly opened her window and shouted: ‘Erm… Excuse me.’
At this, the man casually walks away, and when she tries to get his attention, he lifts his hand, which prompts her to say: ‘Thought so mate, keep walking.’
