Is this Britain's most dangerous railway station? The busy transport hub where the rich and famous are targeted for pricey jewellery, handbags and mobiles - as experts reveal tips to keep you safe

Daily Mail​

04-05-2025

It's famed for being an iconic London landmark, but a recent spate of thefts have seen it develop a reputation far beyond being the hub of high speed travel across the UK and Europe.
London St Pancras International is renowned for its striking Victorian Gothic architecture as well as droves of commuters zooming to and fro, but among them are crooks lurk ready to pounce at any given opportunity.
From Richard Millie watches worth £185,000 being snatched from wrists, to Hermes bags and designer jewellery being swiped, and phones being taken 'clean' out of victims' hands, the strategies of thieves are wide-ranging.
And while some thieves are more discrete, swiftly swooping in on travellers while their backs others are far more brazen, hitting victims with a wave of paint before swiping thousands worth of goods.
Among the victims of these unassuming crooks are the F1's A-list, Made in Chelsea stars, senior politicians, big names in sport as well as unsuspecting tourists.
It comes after MailOnline named and shamed Britain's most crime-ridden train stations, with London St Pancras International topping the charts (1,616) of our analysis.
St Pancras' latest victim was the wife of legendary former F1 driver Jenson Button, Brittny, with a yob nabbing her Goyard carry-on suitcase in a matter of seconds, speeding away with over £250,000 of jewellery and designer handbags.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Brittny revealed the couple had 'no interest' in jetting back to the UK after they were targeted by a thug, who had made off with countless sentimental items.
Recalling the moment her bag was nicked, forever memory of the trip and the capital city, Brittny explained how the ex Formula One driver had told her to head into the car.
Brittny told MailOnline: 'I was kind of shocked. How like unsecure everything felt [in London] just so many people, [and] so chaotic.
'I thought, 'Should I have brought my carry on back here with me?' Because Jensen can be a little bit like not super careful too trusting and a little too relaxed.'
Jenson's suitcase was loaded into the front seat of the chauffeur's car, but as he briefly turned his back to Brittny's carry-on the brazen criminal ran off into the busy station with sentimental items she hoped to one day pass on to her daughter.
'He had his back on mine, and a guy just came and swooped it. We didn't even see him do it,' she added: 'So they were probably watching us.
'We had no idea until Jenson went, 'Wait where is your bag' and he raced off trying to find it, but he [the thief] was already gone.'
The interior designer burst into tears following the 'traumatising' ordeal which cast a dark cloud over their getaway, as she quickly headed back to the airport to return to their home in California.
'I just started crying, I was a little upset with Jensen because I felt like he kind of dropped the ball a little but its not his fault someone was watching us,' she said: 'He also did get his bag stolen a few months ago in a car park in London.
Brittny's stolen bags which were later listed online. These listings were later deleted
'It definitely was shocking that I just didn't think. I'm normally pretty cautious when I'm out in public and travelling, but I just didn't think that there were gangs literally just waiting for people and watching.'
The yob, Mourad Aid, 41, pleaded guilty to theft at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 19 February 2025, five days after the incident and has since been remanded in custody for sentencing.
But Mrs Button isn't the only celeb to have suffered at the hands of such brazen criminals, as recently as last February, Made in Chelsea's Yasmine Zweegers was a victim of a terrifying new theft scam.
The 25-year-old influencer was outside the major railway hub in King's Cross - having just returned from Yorkshire - when thieves cruelly stole her jewellery, laptop, camera and clothes, totalling to around £8,000 on February 10.
Yasmine believed a man, who had offered the reality TV star a tissue to clean the brown paint from her coat, was simply being a kind stranger, however seconds later her bag was snatched as she was distracted.
Taking to TikTok following the theft, Yasmin told her 196,000 followers: 'This is such a silly scam that anyone would probably fall for. I literally don't want this to happen to anybody else.
'I felt so violated. I thought this man was just being super kind to me and he very much wasn't.'
'It was mental how we [she and her mother] both completely did not even notice when that happened,' she added.
'The man hands me over a pack of tissues. So I take the tissues, and it made me think 'let me take me coat off to wipe the paint'. Now in hindsight, I should never have taken my coat off.
'We had just come from a family's party in Yorkshire – jewellery, laptop, camera – everything, you name it, it was gone. I didn't want to wear any of this around London so it was all in that bag,' she added.
The Made In Chelsea star believes the man who warned her about the paint on her back was acting alongside a team of other crooks, who were prowling nearby.
'I think there is a group of people doing this. One is throwing the paint, the other's distracting, the other's taking the bag and at first I literally just thought I was having a really bad day... I didn't think of someone throwing paint on me.
'It only occurred to me later that that was all a set up,' she said in a video.
Only weeks later, Lea Yerevanian, 31, revealed she too had fallen victim to the cruel trick, in a disturbingly similar tale outside Kings Cross St Pancras station on a December evening.
The young woman said she was left feeling 'violated' after thieves sprayed her with ketchup in a bid to take her things, and although she clocked on to the ploy, her £4,500 coat was ruined.
Ms Yerevanian explained how a man had approached her, and similarly to Ms Zweegers, told her she had something on her back.
'I took my hand and I put it on my back and then looked at my hand and there was what seemed to be ketchup all over it. Someone had sprayed ketchup all over my coat,' Ms Yerevanian recalled.
She added: 'The moment that I knew this was a distraction I put my duffel bag on my luggage and put both my hands on it like I'm guarding it.
'I got really scared when I realized that this is not one person. This is a few people acting together.
'I was terrified. I felt so violated because my my space was invaded. There was stuff on my coat, it was just a very scary and strange feeling.'
Fortunately Ms Yerevanian managed to escape the men after ditching her Uber and running across the road to get a taxi.
Luckily Chartered Security Professional, James Bore, has urged commuters visiting busy stations, such as St Pancras to remain mindful of their surroundings, and not to be distracted by their phones.
'We get tired. We are in a busy environment, trying to process too much,' he said: 'The key thing is don't have your phone out.'
He added: 'That's not just to stop it being stolen, that's to stop you staring at the screen, it will make you less of a target as you won't appear distracted.'
Describing busy railway stations as 'chaotic' and 'busy' environments, with plenty of potential targets for criminals, the security expert from Bores Group, urged people to keep their bags shut at all times, and to never set them down.
'There's all sorts of opportunities, and ultimately there is opportunity for criminals in chaos and in busy and hectic places,' he added.
'At the same time, these are places where you will have people who have expensive stuff on them on their way to London.
'It is a target rich environment where people are not going to be at their most alert.'
One of woman, who had become a target of three crooks was pushed to the ground outside the station, where they ripped her exquisite £185,000 designer Richard Millie watch from her wrist.
Last July, the victim, in her 40s, was wearing a Richard Mille timepiece when she was approached by the group of three men outside St Pancras International Station in Euston Road
Police say the trio of men then pushed her to the ground and removed her watch as her three children looked on helplessly.
The robbers then ran off with the timepiece, and while the woman was not injured, officers said she was left shaken, after the crooks made away with her Richard Mille RM 037, worth around £185,000.
And no matter how successful or powerful you may be, the brazen thieves will try their hand at nabbing your belongings, as even senior Conservative MP Sir David Davis fell victim to a 'professional thief' during a £15,000 crime spree a court previously heard.
Abderrahim Mamma, 28, allegedly stole the 76-year-old's bag at King's Cross Station on November 4 last year.
Davis, 76, was the Secretary of State for Brexit from 2016 to 2018, and is the MP for Goole and Pocklington in Yorkshire.
Mamma was charged with seven counts of thefts, which took place at Paddington, St Pancras and King's Cross station, between February 2024 and January 2025.
Malachy Pakenham, prosecuting, said: 'This defendant stole property from people worth approximately £15,000.'
He told the court Mamma stole 'phones, bags and personal property' from his victims adding: 'Clearly, I say, he is professional thief and that this court has insufficient powers to deal with it here.'
Last June, former tennis pro, Annabel Croft revealed she was mugged by a phone snatcher riding a bike outside London's King's Cross.
The former tennis star, 58, said her mobile was stolen 'clean out of her hands' while she waited for a taxi outside the station, however the snatcher thankfully dropped the phone as they sped off.
In an Instagram update, Ms Croft wrote: 'I just wanted to warn people who are on their own in London. I just got mugged waiting for a taxi outside King's Cross St Pancras. The man was riding a bike and wearing a black balaclava. He rode straight at me and took my phone clean out of my hands.'
'He rode away with it but luckily dropped my phone so I got it back. Terrifying!'.
She added: 'On a positive note, there are some lovely people out there. Luckily a lovely gentleman witnessed it and came over to help me. Thank you to whoever you are.'
BTP Superintendent Nick Sedgemore said: 'We know how upsetting, inconvenient and costly incidents of theft can be and we are working tirelessly to crack down on this sort of offending in London.
'Our specialist plain clothes officers are conducting regular patrols around St Pancras in response to these reports in order to identify and intercept offenders and hold them to account, and we have a number of tactics available to us not to mention over 150,000 CCTV cameras available to us.
'Just last night our plain clothes officers were patrolling St Pancras when they observed two suspects behaving suspiciously, and intercepted them as they went to steal a designer bag from the boot of a taxi. The officers arrested them immediately and were able to return the bag – which had a value of £18,000 – to its grateful owner.'
'I'd urge passengers to keep an extra close eye on their belongings and to report any concerns to us by texting 61016. Every offence reported provides valuable intelligence which is used to direct our patrols and operations.'