More than 70 supercars worth £7m seized
The crackdown by Scotland Yard comes amid reports of anti-social and dangerous driving, alongside drivers being a 'nuisance' across hotspot areas of London. One of the drivers of the two purple Lamborghinis had been in the country for just two hours and driving for 15 minutes when the luxury car was seized, the MIB said. Up to 75 Met police officers worked to seize the uninsured vehicles, using specialist methods such as ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), predictive movement tracking and vehicle markers.
Several other types of criminal activity were also detected throughout the operation, including individuals wanted for actual bodily harm (ABH) and criminal damage, [expletive] offenses, immigration offenses, stolen vehicles and even fraudulent insurance policies. Meanwhile, some drivers were also found to have been on the roads without a valid license, using a mobile phone while driving, not wearing a seatbelt and having illegally tinted windows. Special Chief Officer James Deller from the Met Police, who was in attendance at the operation, said that the operation represented the force's commitment to tackling anti-social behavior.
He added: 'This operation was set up to respond to resident, business and visitors' concerns about high-value vehicles causing a nuisance in known hotspot areas in central and west London.' SCO Deller said that the crackdown had been a 'real success' in helping to educate drivers and enforce the law, adding that the force were working to address anti-social behavior caused by uninsured drivers. Meanwhile, Martin Saunders, Head of Uninsured Driving Prevention at MIB, urged motorists to 'check their insurance policy is in place, is appropriate for their needs and to reach out to their insurer if they are unsure on any part of their policy.'
He added: 'While many offenders knowingly violated the law, others fell victim to simple mistakes such as bounced payments, failed renewals or incorrect details.' Mr Saunders also confirmed that both the Met and MIB 'plan to continue enforcement and education efforts throughout the year'. A previous clampdown by the Met Police in August last year saw a haul of supercars worth £6million seized as boy racers were accused of using London as 'their own personal racetrack '.
Extravagant vehicles including McClarens, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Ferraris and Lamborghinis were among the 60-strong collection confiscated by Scotland Yard. It came after concerns had been raised about the streets of central London becoming more like 'racetracks' - prompting officers to swoop into action. Metropolitan Police Special Inspector Geoff Tatman said: 'The Met is working to put communities first - listening to and tackling their concerns.
'This hugely successful operation has proved we are dealing with those crimes, such as anti-social driving, that is causing most distress to residents and tourists.' He insisted officers were 'doubling down on crime on the roads' as he praised the 'hard work and dedication' of Scotland Yard's volunteer special constables. Mr Titman described them as playing 'a vital role in our mission to make London safer' as they 'kindly give up their free time to help serve the community'. Council chiefs suggested similar further moves could lie ahead.
Cabinet member for city management Paul Dimoldenberg said: 'People who think it is okay to use our roads as their own private racetrack late at night are not welcome in Westminster. 'The noise and dangerous driving from these boy racers is often worse during the summer, so I welcome these results from the enforcement work'. Last September, a driver pleaded with police to 'let him off' as it was his wedding day after they found he had no insurance on a £200,000 Lamborghini.
The soon-to-be groom was picked up by road traffic officers following four reports that the lime-green sports car had been speeding. They ran checks on the convertible vehicle - after stopping it in Bury, Greater Manchester - which showed it did not have any damage protection. The man then tried to use his upcoming nuptials to plead with officers to spare him punishment.
But Greater Manchester Police joked that as they had 'no confetti on hand', they ignored his request and 'threw six penalty points' at him instead. The officers also seized the vehicle. Meanwhile, just month it was revealed that more than 30 locations across London have been identified as the worst for anti-social behavior, theft and street crime.
Some 20 town centre and high street areas now account for 10 per cent of knife crime, 24 per cent of theft person offenses and 6 per cent of anti-social behavior calls. These have been identified as 'Tier 1' regions - including town centers in Barking, Brixton , Ealing, Croydon, Woolwich, Ilford, Kingston, Romford and Shoreditch.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Moment staff on London's 'lawless' Tube appear to ignore two fare dodgers who shamelessly push their way through barriers next to where they are standing
This is the moment three Tube workers failed to react as two fare dodgers pushed their way through the barriers on a deserted concourse without paying - right in front of them. The shocking incident is believed to have taken place at the brand new Elizabeth Line station in Woolwich, south-east London last week. Footage shows the two young men brazenly pushing through the barriers designed for the disabled, families and people with luggage. The friends nonchalantly walked past members of station staff, who either failed to notice or more likely failed to act. The incident was captured by commuter Matt Stevens, who has started filming and shaming the fare dodgers, as well as the Transport for London staff who appear to do nothing. He said sarcastically: 'Staff on circa 40k a year standing and watching people barge through barriers with no tickets. Money well spent'. Weeks earlier, at the same station, he filmed 'dozens' of people doing the same. He said: 'Dozens of people breaking through the barriers and your 'enforcement officers' are stood twiddling their thumbs. What an insult to the taxpayers who pay their wages'. On another occasion he photographed a young man pushing through the barriers at Canary Wharf Station. He said in a tweet to TfL: 'He then proceeded to threaten me after I reminded him to buy a ticket. Your staff sat and watched'. MailOnline has asked Transport for London to comment. Hello again @TfL. Staff on circa 40k a year standing and watching people barge through barriers with no tickets. 👏👏 Money well spent. — Matt Stevens (@MattStevns) August 7, 2025 The fare dodgers push through the barriers while members of staff appeared to do nothing The friends nonchalantly walked past members of station staff, who either failed to notice or more likely failed to act Earlier this year the Mail revealed how TikTok influencers are brazenly showing London Underground passengers how to illegally travel for free by 'bumping' through the station ticket barriers. Young men are filming themselves laughing and joking with each other as they push through the wide-aisle gates in videos liked by hundreds of thousands of viewers. The gates, which were first installed in 2008 at a cost of £12million, are normally used by wheelchair users, older people, parents with children and travellers with luggage. But they are increasingly being used by fare dodgers who either push through the gap in the middle, or quickly follow someone in front of them who touches out. It comes amid a fare dodging epidemic on UK trains, with an official report published this week revealing staff believe the practice is becoming 'normalised' and they are struggling to cope with 'aggressive' passengers who refuse to buy tickets. Videos show young men at stations across the Tube network walking through barriers without being stopped by staff - and even explaining to others how to do it. In one clip posted by rapper Stepz, real name Samuel Agyei, he claims that Transport for London (TfL) have 'upgraded the barriers' but still pushes his way through. References to 'free TfL' and 'free travel' can be heard, as he tells the camera: 'I don't know why they made it look like it's hard to bump through when it's that easy.' In one clip posted by rapper Stepz, real name Samuel Agyei, he claims that Transport for London (TfL) have 'upgraded the barriers' but still pushes his way through at one station Another video by Tenton, who has 70,000 followers, sees the TikToker push through the barriers and ask: 'Mandem, at what age are we gonna stop bumping train?' The clip by Stepz, who has 3.5million TikTok followers, was called 'Still Easy' and has racked up 388,000 likes and nearly 1,000 comments since being posted in 2022. Another video by Tenton, who has 70,000 followers, sees the TikToker push through the barriers and ask: 'Mandem, at what age are we gonna stop bumping train?' He says: 'It's getting silly guys because I'm almost finished uni and I'm still bumping train.' As a staff member walks past, he tells them: 'Sorry, you didn't hear that.' Tenton continues: 'Realistically at what age are we gonna stop? When we got grey hairs we're not gonna be bumping train. Do you get it guys? I think the threshold is 25.' A third video by user CFCRocky7 features a man showing women how to push through the barrier at Stratford, with the caption: 'Saving NPCs [non-player characters] from extortionate train fares @Transport for London.' In another video posted by Parafactual, a series of commuters are shown at East Ham walking through the barriers without paying, following customers who do touch out. Similar videos have also appeared on other social media sites such as Instagram. A video by user CFCRocky7 features a man showing women how to push through the barrier at Stratford, with the caption: 'Saving NPCs [non-player characters] from extortionate train fares' In another video posted by Parafactual, a series of commuters are shown at East Ham station walking through the barriers without paying, following customers who do touch out One posted by Gavin Chee, which has racked up 80,000 views, is called: 'Different types of people bumping TfL. Can't lie know bare talkers.' This shows a series of different attempts to get through the barriers at a Bakerloo line station by the same man in a comedic style, categorised as 'The Scum Bag'; 'The Runner'; 'The Talker'; 'The Savage' and 'The Kwalis'. Fare dodgers are estimated to cost TfL around £130million a year in lost revenue. Wide-aisle gates are the main access point for chronic fare evaders, and TfL has trialled changes to how they work at some stations to see if they can reduce pushers. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, said: 'The overwhelming majority of our customers pay the correct fare, however there is a minority who do attempt to travel without a valid ticket which is a criminal offence. 'Fare evasion is unacceptable. That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network. 'This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other anti-social behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe.' Robert Jenrick confronts people pushing through the barriers at Stratford station in London An estimated 3.4 per cent of passengers did not pay fares between April and December 2024 – and they face a fine of £100 if caught, although this is halved if paid within a fortnight Ms Hayward added: 'Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network and we are committed to reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5 per cent by 2030.' And a British Transport Police spokesman said: 'Ticket fraud is not a victimless crime - the cost is passed down to the honest fare-paying members of the travelling public. 'We are committed to working closely alongside the railway industry to tackle fare evasion and regularly support them with high visibility patrols at known hotspot locations.' TikTok said it has removed videos which violate its community guidelines around criminal behaviour, and has also blocked associated hashtags and search terms related to this. The social media firm's guidelines state that it does not allow content which promotes or provides instructions on how to commit criminal activities that may harm people or property. Between October and December last year, TikTok claims to have proactively removed 97.1 per cent of content which violated its violence and criminal behaviour policies before it was reported to the firm. The Channel 5 programme 'Fare Evaders: At War With The Law' shows a passenger pushing the gates at Kingston station in London without touching out before attacking police officers Meanwhile a report by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) released on Wednesday found travellers are using 'a range of techniques to persistently' underpay or avoid paying and see it as a 'victimless crime'. Staff enduring abusive behaviour when asking fare-dodgers to present their tickets are warning that evasion is becoming 'increasingly more challenging to tackle'. The report had been commissioned to look at concerns some passengers were being unfairly prosecuted by train operators over genuine mistakes when buying tickets. But it found fare evasion is a mounting problem now costing taxpayers £400million a year which is resulting in higher fares and less investment cash to improve services. The Mail highlighted some of the worst cases of evasion in exclusive clips from the Channel 5 series Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law, airing on Monday nights at 9pm. And shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick tweeted a video last week in which he confronted people pushing through the barriers at Stratford station in London. It comes after separate video showed furious passengers taking the law into their own hands when a Tube passenger dropped his trousers in a packed carriage. British Transport Police (BTP) believe the naked man, who has since been detained under the mental health act, was assaulted on the District line in east London. Up to four men stepped in when he repeatedly refused to pull up his pants at 3.30pm last Thursday. He was pinned to the floor and carried off the train before being arrested by an off duty police officer. But detectives are probing whether the vigilantes committed any criminal offences in the confrontation after he refused to pull up his pants. BTP has appealed for witnesses to the incident but there have been no arrests over the brawl. 'The man had been assaulted by a number of other passengers and was initially arrested by an off duty officer, before being detained under the mental health act and taken to hospital,' the BTP statement said. 'An investigation into the incident is ongoing.' It comes after separate video showed furious passengers taking the law into their own hands when a Tube passenger dropped his trousers in a packed carriage A group carried him off the train and pinned him down on the platform, waiting for help to arrive The Daily Mail revealed how he began yelling after the eastbound train travelled between Upton Park and East Ham. He then dropped his trousers and put his belt around his neck. His bottom and genitals were on show, sparking anger and revulsion around him on the train, which was busy with children who are on their summer holidays. A passenger stood up and quickly confronted him, gesticulating angrily. He politely and firmly told him: 'You need to get off the train.' But the man began repeatedly yelling back: 'F*** off.' The commuter said in response: 'What do you mean "f*** off"? You need to get off the f***ing train. Now. There are kids on here.' Footage of the incident showed up to four men kicking and punching the naked man, who was hitting them with his belt. The video then cut to him being pinned to the floor of the carriage. The man was then unceremoniously carried on to the Tube platform at East Ham and dumped to the floor. He was then pinned down as the commuters tried to alert staff. It appears an off duty police officer was on the train and performed an arrest and he was taken to hospital. It is yet another horrifying incident on the Tube, which is run by Sir Sadiq Khan's Transport for London (TfL). Since he became Mayor in 2016, Tube crime rates have more than doubled, and today he has been accused of ignoring a manifesto pledge to maintain a 24-hour police front counter in every borough in the capital. Just last month a brawl broke out on the steps of a packed station - with a screaming toddler ending up on the floor in the chaos.
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Over 40 rough sleepers line Oxford Street with makeshift beds after migrant 'shanty town' is cleared
More than 40 rough sleepers have set up camp on Britain's most famous shopping street just weeks after a 'tent city' of homeless people was broken up. A long line of homeless people were seen under duvets and makeshift beds after dark on Oxford Street, London, with some groups talking and sleeping. The world-renowned shopping hub is one of Europe's busiest retail streets, with hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the globe. In July, migrants were seen sleeping under bedding and smoking cigarettes on the world famous street just a week after being evicted from the area. People were seen gathered on the pavement outside John Lewis ' flagship store as shoppers and commuters walked around them. The camp was been spotted just days after a 'tent city' full of homeless people in the area was broken up. Weeks ago, enforcement teams were called to tear down the encampment which blighted Hyde Park Corner for months. The action was taken by Transport for London (TfL), which applied for a possession order to retake the land. MailOnline understands it was the fourth such time the site had been cleared in the last 12 months. The camp was next to London's West End tourist Mecca, and just a stone's throw away from Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Speaker's Corner, as well as Oxford Street. The most recent spotting of around 40 homeless people sleeping on world famous street, with locals saying 'the vibe' of the area has changed. One said: 'After hearing about all the phone snatching and pickpocketing, I thought I knew what to expect. 'But I wasn't ready for the number of homeless people I saw when I went to an evening event.' Another said: 'I lived in London 20 years ago, worked in Bond Street. It was nothing like that.' While one quipped: 'London is a mess right now.' In July, dramatic pictures showed groups of people from the squalid site in Hyde Park being moved on by officers, some of whom appeared to be wearing stab vests. Occupants of the camp were forced to rip down dwellings made of tarpaulin sheeting while bailiffs watched on. Some from the tent city were pictured hauling grubby-looking mattresses after being evicted. Security teams comprising dog-handling units maintained a presence at the former campsite today. For months the prime city centre spot, opposite The Dorchester in Park Lane has been plagued by homelessness. Up to 100 migrants were reportedly camped at the site at one point, with some defiantly saying they won't go anywhere. But their presence ignited fury from exasperated local residents, who wanted them gone. When MailOnline visited a previous Mayfair location last year, those living there insisted they were going nowhere. 'We don't have any money [to go anywhere else]. We will just stay here until we can find something,' said someone from the group. The eyesore was just yards from an Aston Martin showroom and other prestigious hotels like the Beaumont, the Hyatt Regency and the Connaught. But tycoons looking out on the camp from their penthouses, were reportedly furious at allegedly seeing people drinking and using shrubberies as toilets. It is understood that Westminster City Council spend over £8million in a bid to try and help rough sleepers and to provide them with resources.
Sky News
16 minutes ago
- Sky News
Man who plotted to murder gang member involved in record-breaking heist attacked in prison
A man jailed for plotting to murder a member of the gang that carried out Britain's biggest-ever cash robbery has been attacked in prison. Daniel Kelly, 46, was one of three men found guilty of conspiring to murder Paul Allen, 46, who was shot twice as he stood in his kitchen in Woodford, east London, on 11 July 2019. The attack left the former cage fighter - who was a member of the Securitas heist gang that stole £54m from a cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006 - paralysed from the chest down. Kelly was sentenced to 36 years in prison, with an extra five years on licence, at the Old Bailey in April. Louis Ahearne, 36, was jailed for 33 years, and his brother Stewart Ahearne, 46, was jailed for 30 years over the shooting, likened by detectives to "the plot [of] a Hollywood blockbuster". A source told Sky News that Kelly was attacked by another prisoner who tried to slit his throat on his arrival to Frankland prison, in County Durham, last week. "Danny is a gunman happy to shoot people but not scary with his hands. He's a dead man walking in jail," they said. It is understood Kelly suffered only minor injuries and the Prison Service is treating the attack as a minor incident. Allen was living in a large detached rented house with his partner and three young children after being released from an 18-year prison sentence over the Securitas raid when he was shot. In her sentencing remarks, Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC said she believed the three men convicted "were motivated by a promise of financial gain", but she had "no doubt" others were involved. The day before the shooting, Kelly and Louis Ahearne used a rented car to carry out a burglary in Kent, accessing the gated community by pretending to be police officers. A month before that, Kelly and the Ahearnes stole more than $3.5m (£2.78m) worth of Ming dynasty antiques from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva, for which the brothers had been jailed in Switzerland. Kelly is also wanted in Japan over the robbery of a Tokyo jewellery store in 2015 in which a security guard was punched in the face - but extradition proceedings have been put on hold while he serves his sentence.
