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​

21-07-2025

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.'