British actor Susan Hampshire, 87, has phone and purse stolen in tube mugging incident
Actor Susan Hampshire has revealed that she had her mobile phone and purse stolen on the London Underground in a shocking mugging incident.
The 87-year-old Forsyte Saga and Monarch Of The Glen actor recalled the incident at a Talking Pictures event earlier this week.
She said, via The Mail: 'I was mugged on the underground the other day. I wish I'd put my money in my bra because I lost my phone and my purse.'
The actor, who has won three Emmy Awards for her roles in Forsyte Saga (1970), The First Churchills (1971) and Vanity Fair (1973), did not give further details of the incident – but it comes as the capital's transport system faces a rise in crime.
According to the recent TFL report, crimes committed on the Tube went up 13 per cent last year, with 17 per cent of crimes committed on the Central Line and Northern Line. King's Cross was the most crime-ridden stop, followed by Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Stratford and Finsbury Park.
Theft is the most common crime across the city's transport network, making up for 60 per cent of recorded offences on trains and 40 per cent at stations.
The Independent revealed this month that mobile phone thefts reported to UK police have almost doubled over the past five years, with more than three quarters of offences happening in London.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said the increase in thefts was being driven by organised crime as she pledged more powers for police to tackle the wave, while also calling on tech companies to improve device security.
She said: 'Over the last few years, mobile phone thefts have shot up – often driven by organised crime – leaving our streets feeling less safe. That has to change.'
The Met Police said earlier this month it had seized 1,000 stolen mobiles and arrested 230 people in one week, cracking down on the '£50m-a-year trade in stolen phones'. The City of London police force has also been deploying teams of plain-clothed officers to catch offenders.
Hampshire made her acting debut as a child in the 1947 drama The Woman of the Hall, directed by Jack Lee.
She rose to prominence in the Sixties and Seventies for her work across film and TV, including the BBC miniseries The Pallisers.
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