logo
EXCLUSIVE London's mugging hotspots revealed: Interactive map shows where you're most likely to be targeted by thieves in the Sadiq Khan's lawless city

EXCLUSIVE London's mugging hotspots revealed: Interactive map shows where you're most likely to be targeted by thieves in the Sadiq Khan's lawless city

Daily Mail​2 days ago
The places where you are most likely to be mugged in London can today be revealed as a crime wave continues to grip Sadiq Khan 's lawless capital city.
Unsuspecting tourists and locals alike are being targeted by gangs of thieves grabbing expensive watches off people's wrists.
Yobs on e-bikes have been also caught on camera violently snatching phones out of people's hands as they walk down the capital's streets.
Some of the recent victims of muggings in London include Bridgerton 's Genevieve Chenneour, Loose Women 's Christine Lampard and Jenson Button's wife Brittny.
Now, MailOnline can reveal that London's most exclusive postcodes make up the worst hotspots for muggings.
As shown in the interactive map below, Fitzrovia West and Soho in central London has seen some of the highest rates of robberies of individuals in the past year.
In one area that covers both Oxford Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, a total of 508 muggings were reported to police in the year to June 2025.
Another 499 robberies of individuals were recorded in the area including Regent Street, New Bond Street and sections of Oxford Street in the same time period.
The areas around the Strand, Leicester Square, St James and Mayfair also saw very high levels of violent thefts, according to the data released by the Met Police.
One zone, which includes popular tourist hotspots Leicester Square and Covent Garden, saw 370 muggings between last June and this summer.
Another in the area around Buckingham Palace, the Mall and Picadilly Circus saw 251 violent thefts, police have said.
It comes as a number of celebrities have revealed they have fallen victim to prolific thieves and muggers causing terror across the capital.
Bridgerton star Genevieve Chenneour, 27, was targeted by a prolific teenage criminal who grabbed her phone in a Joe & The Juice in Kensington in February.
Zacariah Boulares, 18, was jailed for just 22 months after snuck up behind actress but she bravely fought back, dragging him to the floor with the help of her boyfriend.
She said she thought she was going to die after the thug threatened to stab her.
Moreover 18 months before the attack, Boulares had targeted another celebrity victim.
The then 16-year-old threatened to behead Aled Jones with a 20in machete as he stole his £17,000 Rolex Daytona in Chiswick, west London.
The thief was locked up for the attack but only served 14 months of his 24-month sentence before being released back onto the streets.
There was also outrage earlier this year after veteran broadcaster Selina Scott, 74, revealed she was viciously attacked and robbed in broad daylight in Piccadilly.
The stalwart of British TV was leaving a Waterstones shop on June 17 when she was struck on the back of her right knee, leaving her feeling as if she had been 'stabbed'.
She was set upon by a gang who attempted to grab her backpack. Fighting back, she kept hold of the bag – but one of the thieves unzipped it and took her purse before running off.
Ms Scott lost her bank cards, driving licence and cash in the robbery.
Furthermore in June, three 'Rolex rippers' who beat up their victims in central London before grabbing expensive watches were jailed for a total of 30 years.
Tedros Haile, 35, Mahad Jammeh, 24, and Christian Whittingham, 27, carried out a series of attacks on the streets of Mayfair and the West End on June 25 last year.
The trio targeted Michail Rivas outside the Rolls Royce showroom in Stratton Street as they surrounded him after jumping out of a white BMW wearing face coverings.
They grabbed Mr Rivas' Mido Baroncelli Moonphase Chronograph worth £1,000 and quickly made off in the getaway car.
Later that night the thieves targeted Mark Jackson and Oliver Wragg in Brewer Street.
Both were wearing short sleeved tops and expensive looking watches after a night out watching football.
Mr Jackson felt a hard object hit him behind his head then was hit with multiple full force fist punches.
Statistics published by MailOnline last year revealed that muggings in London's West End tripled in just 24 months.
Figures show the number of thefts from a person in the area around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square increased to 2,806 in 2023, compared to 796 in 2021.
On Tuesday, Sir Sadiq Khan announced policing blitz on London's 20 most troubled town centres, specifically for shoplifting, robbery, knife crime and anti-social behaviour.
His Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, said: 'The safety of our town centres is more than just policing – it's about building stronger, more connected communities where everyone feels secure.
'Across our city there will be partnership led operations to tackle shoplifting and clear, visible neighbourhood officers out on patrol, keeping our communities safe and working to build safer town centres and a safer London for everyone'.
Moped and e-bike gangs have been identified as prolific culprits.
It comes as MailOnline last week also revealed the worst streets for mobile phone theft in London's West End.
Nearly 18 devices are being snatched on Oxford Street each day - with a total 6,539 reports of devices being stolen last year.
Shaftsbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road in the theatre district were third and fourth with 1,032 and 946 respectively between January and December 2024.
Completing the top ten were Wardour Street on 929, Greek Street on 623, Piccadilly on 591, Old Compton Street on 507, Strand on 494 and Leicester Square on 455.
Phone theft has become an epidemic in London, hitting a record level last year – with the number of devices snatched more than tripling in four years.
Some 70,137 phones were reported stolen to the Met in the capital in 2024, up by nearly 40 per cent from 52,428 in 2023. As recently as 2020, the figure was 20,000.
Susan Hall AM, leader of the City Hall Conservative Group, told MailOnline: '6,539 thefts on Oxford Street alone is obscene.
'With the prospect of pedestrianisation looming, I've spoken to residents in Westminster who are horrified at how police cuts and pedestrianisation will only exacerbate this.
'For God's sake, Sadiq - get a grip on this and actually put the welfare of the public first. His inaction is rapidly making the West End more and more lawless.'
Her Tory colleague Neil Garratt, who wrote the Tackling London's Theft Epidemic report earlier this year, added: 'These figures are shocking but not surprising.
'In February, my report into London's spiralling phone theft epidemic showed exactly how the Mayor can get a grip, but he refuses.
'Instead, he sits back blaming the phone companies while Londoners and visitors to our great city fear to take out their phone. This problem is solvable, so I am urging him, again, to take action now.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Graham Thorpe asked his wife to help him end his life after his mental health 'spiralled' following Covid lockdowns and being sacked from his England coaching job, inquest hears
Graham Thorpe asked his wife to help him end his life after his mental health 'spiralled' following Covid lockdowns and being sacked from his England coaching job, inquest hears

Daily Mail​

time12 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Graham Thorpe asked his wife to help him end his life after his mental health 'spiralled' following Covid lockdowns and being sacked from his England coaching job, inquest hears

England cricket legend Graham Thorpe's mental health was 'spiralling down' after a combination of Covid lockdowns and being sacked from the English Cricket Board (ECB), his heartbroken widow said today. Amanda Thorpe described how the Surrey lefthander begged her to help him to die as he struggled to cope with anxiety and depression. He attempted to take his own life in a hotel in 2022, after losing his coaching job with the ECB after a video involving the England Ashes players on tour in Australia – which Thorpe filmed – was leaked. The former Surrey lefthander, who dazzled with the bat during a glittering career for club and country, was killed when he was struck by a train near his home on August 4 last year. He was 55 years old. Mrs Thorpe told her husband's inquest in Woking: 'He asked me to help him end his life. 'He said he wants to go to Switzerland. I was in turmoil. 'Then we get a letter for an appointment (with the medical team) in a month's time. 'How ill do you have to be?' Thorpe's wife, his father Geoff, and brothers Alan and Ian were all present for the hearing. Addressing them, assistant coroner Jonathan Stevens said: 'I appreciate this is an incredibly difficult time for you as a family.' The coroner, referring to Mrs Thorpe's witness statement, described how 'up until the time of Covid there were no psychological issues'. He said: 'You explain Graham found lockdown and Covid very difficult, very stressful for him.' Mrs Thorpe said: 'Up until 2020, no there wasnt anything in particular. 'Maybe in 2018 he had a bout of depression but he got through that, it didn't affect his job.' Thorpe's father Geoff, 83, agreed, adding: 'Everything was fine until Covid.' He told the inquest: 'What you've got to realise is sometimes us chaps are a little bit macho – we can cope. 'In fact, we can't.' Referring to the Covid restrictions, he said: 'He's not a fella who likes to be couped up.' Mr Thorpe senior described how his son's 'life came crashing down' when he lost his job with the ECB. The coroner described how Thorpe 'had his ups and downs with stress and anxiety' in 2021, but then there was the prospect of the Ashes tour in 2021/2 where the Covid restrictions in Australia were much stricter than in the UK. Referring to Mrs Thorpe's statement, he said: 'You say the environment of Covid was not good for him, would make his psychological condition worse. 'You mention on that Tour there was an incident involving a video that was taken that drew a lot of adverse publicity. 'You make the observation that he shouldn't have been allowed to go to Australia, and it was inevitable there was going to be a deterioration in his mental health.' Mrs Thorpe said: 'Thinking about it, because he went on that Tour, he was dismissed. 'If he hadn't been on that Tour, then he wouldn't be dismissed and that was ultimately what he couldn't deal with.' The coroner said Thorpe tried to take his own life with a cocktail of medication and alcohol in the middle of 2022. He said: 'Things continued to go downhill, he was really struggling, had anxiety and insomnia and it was all really dark.' Thorpe spent three weeks unconscious in hospital after the suicide attempt. He suffered a stroke, and was in intensive care for five weeks. He went to a private hospital, paid for by the ECB, but his mental health did not improve. He was offered a coaching role with the Afghanistan national team but could not go because of his mental health issues. Mrs Thorpe told the inquest: 'He tried to do it but he was spiralling down. 'He signed a contract and I had to tell them he was too unwell to do that job.' Thorpe tried various types of therapy including electro-compulsive therapy, but that 'didn't seem to work', the inquest heard. He made repeated threats to kill himself, including throwing himself in front of a train, his father said. Mrs Thorpe said: 'He told me he was scared, and I told him I was scared too because I didn't know how to help him.' By June 2024, Thorpe 'had no interest in food, he wanted to hide away, totally isolated, in real crisis and despair', the inquest heard. The coroner described how Thorpe left the family home on the morning of August 4 2024 and was not seen alive again. Referring to Mrs Thorpe's witness statement, he said: 'You had been upstairs on the phone and Graham had gone out. 'You thought he had gone to walk the dog but then you saw the dog. 'You tried to locate him using your phone but weren't able to do that. 'Then you got a call from Geoff telling you: he's gone.' Mrs Thorpe said: 'He never really recovered from (his first suicide) attempt. 'He came back from the tour of Australia in a terrible state - lots of things, the video, the environment, the set-up. 'To be sacked after that I think it was foreseeable that it would be really really hard on him. 'The weeks leading up to his death, he told me he doesn't want to be here any more. 'He asked me to help him end his life. 'He said he wants to go to Switzerland. I was in turmoil. 'Then we get a letter for an appointment (with the medical team) in a month's time. 'How ill do you have to be? I just wish he could have been kept safe. If you're not here, there's no hope.' The father-of-four was considered a talisman for England, and was a veteran of 100 Test matches between 1993 and 2005. But he also spent years battling anxiety and depression, and believed his wife Amanda and children Henry, Amelia, Kitty and Emma were better off without him. Thorpe was born in Farnham, Surrey, and showed early promise as a footballer - even being offered trials at Brentford - but was already involved in the under-11s set-up at his home county cricket club. He did not look back. Thorpe would go on to become one of the most revered batsmen of his generation, a rare bright spark in an England team which often failed to deliver. His swashbuckling style and distinctive headband made him popular with fans new and old. And he set records along the way - becoming the first England batter for 20 years to score 100 runs on his Test debut, doing so against a Shane Warne-inspired Australia at Trent Bridge in Nottinghamshire in 1993. He would become only the eight man to reach 100 Test caps for England, scoring 6,744 runs at an average of 44.66. But he was also plagued by demons. In 2002, the year he scored the third fastest double-century in Test history, Thorpe took a 12-month break from cricket as he left a tour of India amid turmoil in his first marriage due to his cheating that led to a bitter divorce and a battle with suicidal depression and alcoholism. Thorpe admitted later after he flew back from touring India to try to save his first marriage: 'There came a time when I would have given back all my Test runs and Test caps just to be happy again.' Mrs Thorpe said in an interview after his death that despite having a wife and children whom he loved and who loved him, 'he did not get better'. His wife said: 'He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life.' Thorpe will be honoured during the final Test match against India at The Oval next month to raise awareness of mental health. Day two of the fifth Test will be called 'A Day for Thorpey' in support of charity Mind. It falls on August 1, which would have been Thorpe's 56th birthday. Thorpe's inquest is due to last until Friday.

Alison Hammond reveals how missing one text meant she didn't see Ozzy Osbourne for final time
Alison Hammond reveals how missing one text meant she didn't see Ozzy Osbourne for final time

The Independent

time14 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Alison Hammond reveals how missing one text meant she didn't see Ozzy Osbourne for final time

Alison Hammond has revealed how missing one text meant that she didn't get to see Ozzy Osbourne 's final Black Sabbath gig in Birmingham. Speaking on This Morning on Wednesday (23 July) following the death of the frontman aged 76, the presenter recalled how she didn't see a text Jack Osbourne sent her extending an invitation from Sharon Osbourne to see the farewell show at Villa Park. 'I feel so, so bad because I could have gone to see him, and I'm so saddened. But I did watch the concert, and I thought it was unbelievable,' Hammond added.

Rosallion a massive drifter for the Sussex as Field Of Gold jockey confirmed with Colin Keane banned from Goodwood
Rosallion a massive drifter for the Sussex as Field Of Gold jockey confirmed with Colin Keane banned from Goodwood

The Sun

time15 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Rosallion a massive drifter for the Sussex as Field Of Gold jockey confirmed with Colin Keane banned from Goodwood

SUPERSTAR miler Rosallion is a big drifter for next week's Sussex Stakes at Goodwood - as Field Of Gold's jockey was finally confirmed. Richard Hannon's multiple Group 1 winner has gone right out on the Betfair Exchange. 1 He was second-fav for the £1million contest next Wednesday but has been usurped by Aidan O'Brien's Henri Matisse. Rosallion's price on the Exchange has ballooned from 5 (4-1) to 9 (8-1). Hannon had said the 7f City Of York at next month's Ebor Festival could be on the cards. But he also said the 1m Prix Jacques Le Marois (worth around £200,000 more than the City Of York) is a strong possibility too. It's very unlikely he would do both given they are less than a week apart, with the French race on August 17 and City Of York August 23. Rosallion's drift came as William Buick was confirmed for the ride on Field Of Gold, who is already as short as 4-9 for the Sussex. Juddmonte's retained rider Colin Keane - who would have been on the top three-year-old - is banned from Goodwood after breaking whip rules. More to follow. Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who:

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store