'Our own camera was stolen': Saudi TV crew covering London crime falls victim to theft

The National

a day ago

A Saudi television crew had a camera stolen in central London while reporting on the rising number of thefts in the city.
Footage posted by Al Ekhbariya on X shows someone wearing a baseball cap picking up the camera from the pavement on Oxford Street.
The man then can be seen casually making his way along London's main shopping thoroughfare without passers-by appearing to notice.
The camera was resting beside an advertising hoarding along with a microphone stand. The theft appears to have been captured by a shop's CCTV, though it is unclear where the crew where at the time of the incident, which took place on Saturday, August 9 at 6pm.
Reporter Mohamed Alrawi said: 'While reporting on the recent surge in thefts on Oxford Street, a street said to have more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in London, something remarkable happened.
'Our own camera was stolen. That very camera has captured footage of thefts.'
It comes as MP and justice minister Alex Davies-Jones admitted "shoplifting has got out of hand in the country". She told the BBC: "I think it is on all of us to be aware of what is going on in our local communities. In my own community of Pontypridd, I know that my local shopkeepers share information about prolific shoplifters because that is what they have had to do.'
Retail business organisation High Streets UK recently called for extra policing on Oxford Street and other shopping thoroughfares in Britain to protect the public and businesses from criminals.
Concerns have been rising about the prevalence of crime in London, particularly theft and the use of knives.
In the past year, nearly 73,000 mobile phones were snatched, an increase of 5 per cent, Met Police figures show. The problem is described as having reached "epidemic" levels.
Knife crime in London has almost doubled in a decade, led by black spots in some of its richest streets, but only one in 20 violent robberies is punished.
In 2024, London recorded nearly 17,000 knife crime offences − an 86.6 per cent increase since 2014/2015. Also last year, more than 35,000 robberies were reported in the city, an increase of 18.2 per cent in only three years.
The city has also been hit by a wave of 'Rolex ripper' thefts of luxury watches, which has dented its reputation as a safe place to visit.
Mr Alrawi was recently reporting on the killing of Saudi student Mohammed Alqassem, who was stabbed to death on a street in Cambridge.
The 20 year old had been on a 10-week placement at a language school when he was attacked. Passing doctors tried in vain to save his life after he was stabbed in the neck and lay bleeding to death on the pavement.
Mr Alqassem's family have said they no longer believe the UK is a safe place for visitors and students.
The young man was laid to rest in his home city of Makkah after his heart-broken family came to the UK to take his body home.
The Met Police have been contacted, meanwhile, about the incident on Oxford Street.