The head of Britain’s largest police force has demanded that courts stop granting bail to repeat phone thieves who reoffend after walking free.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is pushing judges to keep serial offenders locked up rather than releasing them onto the streets.
He has also urged mobile phone manufacturers and telecoms firms to make it harder for criminals to wipe and resell stolen devices.
His intervention came as new figures revealed that tens of thousands of phones are still being stolen on the streets of the capital every year.
However, new stats revealed phone thefts in London dropped from 81,365 in 2024 to 71,391 last year.
Data from the Met’s crime website shows the scale of the problem over recent years, with one mobile phone stolen every six minutes in the capital.
In 2023, there were 52,820 personal thefts involving phones and 14,326 robberies.
The following year saw 70,249 thefts and 11,125 robberies.
Last year recorded 61,292 thefts and 10,207 robberies.
One mobile phone is stolen every six minutes in the capital | X
The Met has been forced to turn to high-powered e-bikes to catch thieves on the same vehicles
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Over the past month, officers have detained 248 suspects and recovered approximately 770 stolen handsets alone.
One major operation saw police swoop in and arrest 32 suspected organised criminals.
The gang allegedly used social media to recruit youngsters as young as 14 to steal phones.
Police also seized 1,000 mobiles and 200 laptops destined for smuggling overseas.
Sir Mark said: “Over the past year, we’ve made hundreds of arrests and recovered tens of thousands of stolen devices.
“That work has meant 10,000 fewer people facing the stress, cost and disruption that comes with having their phone stolen.
CRIME IN THE CAPITAL – READ MORE:
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is pushing judges to keep serial offenders locked up
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“It is this work that is making London an even safer city. But policing alone cannot solve this problem.
“Manufacturers and tech companies must do more to stop criminals being able to reset, reuse or resell stolen phones.
“We also need the courts to play their part by preventing repeat offenders being bailed only to go out and offend again, undermining the hard work officers are doing to keep communities safe.”
Freedom of Information data reveals that between 2017 and February 2024, some 587,498 phones were stolen across London, excluding the City.
Only 13,998 were recovered, leaving 573,500 unaccounted for.
PICTURED: A Metropolitan Police drone command room. The Met is now deploying drones, e-bikes and live facial recognition technology to catch thieves
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The Met is now deploying drones, e-bikes and live facial recognition technology to catch thieves.
Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has proposed £4.5million in funding to tackle the problem, including a dedicated command cell for West End thefts.
Police data shows that the City of Westminster, the most densely-populated and frequently-visited part of the capital, is by far the worst-performing borough for theft from the person offences.
Sir Sadiq said: “Too many Londoners have been the victim of phone theft.
“Our new intensive action is putting us on the front foot when tackling phone thieves and dismantling the gangs behind the scourge of thefts here in London.”
