Phone snatcher wrestled to the ground seconds after targeting people in Oxford Circus

This is the moment a plain clothed police officer stops a phone snatcher in its tracks as more than 1,000 Londoners are set to be reunited with their devices.

Officers arrested 230 suspected phone snatchers in the space of just a week, and recovered 1,000 mobiles during their raids.

In footage released by the Metropolitan Police, one plain clothed police officer is seen spotting a phone snatcher, in a dark blue backwards baseball cap and black jacket in Oxford Circus.

The thief had targeted an elderly person in the tourist hot spot, but one officer spotted the attack and tackled him to the ground in front of shocked pedestrians.

Other footage shows moped drivers snatching devices out of the hands of people walking along pavements and waiting at bus stops.

Officers also carried out raids in second-hand phone shops and used helicopters to find the thieves.

Snatch thefts have increased by 150% in London over the last year, with one phone stolen in the capital every six minutes.

The Home Secretary will chair a summit with law enforcement bodies today to try and stop the thefts plaguing London.

Commander Owain Richards, who is leading the Met’s response to phone thefts, said:

‘We are seeing phone thefts on an industrial scale, fuelled by criminals making millions by being able to easily sell on stolen devices either here or abroad.

‘By intensifying our efforts we’re catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phone stolen in the capital. But we need help from partners and industry to do more.

‘That is why we’re working with other agencies and government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable.’

Some 78,000 people had phones or bags stolen from them on British streets in the year to March 2024.

That is a rise of more than 150% on the 31,000 ‘snatch thefts’ in the 12 months before, according to data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

Figures also show that four in five police investigations were closed before a suspect was even found and just 0.8% of ‘theft from the person’ complaints resulted in a charge.

The government has pledged to crackdown on the scourge, with the Home Office saying it will work more closely with tech firms and police chiefs.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.