20-07-2025
Venice tourists targeted by child pickpockets
They come in all shapes and sizes and have an uncanny ability to blend in with the crowd.
As thousands of tourists surge into Venice in the summer months, so do the pickpockets who shadow the holidaymakers cruising down the Grand Canal or winding through the Lagoon City's labyrinth of narrow alleys.
But criminal gangs are cleverly exploiting a legal loophole and recruiting thieves as young as 12 or 13. Those under the age of 14 escape criminal prosecution.
Police chiefs say gangs have turned away from using pregnant women – who can be prosecuted – and instead turned their attention on children.
But even when the youngsters are caught and sent to a community centre for the night, they escape within hours, Marco Agosti, the commander of the Venice local police, said.
'They were invisible'
Many of the pickpockets are known to police. Frustrated local activists catch them tailing their victims and later post their images on social media, as well as their names or nicknames such as 'Shakira', 'Mika' or 'Dodu'.
'I didn't feel a thing, they were invisible,' said one 50-year old British victim, who did not want to be named. She was targeted during the city's annual Carnevale festivities in February. 'I didn't realise my wallet was gone until I arrived at the railway station.'
Local and national Carabinieri police say they have apprehended more than 150 alleged thieves since the beginning of the year and filled 15 large bags of stolen bags and empty wallets at the town hall.
Despite more than 800 police cameras conducting surveillance across the World Heritage listed city, police say they are hamstrung by legal loopholes that allow criminal gangs to exploit the 'baby borseggiatori' (or baby pickpockets) as well as the transient nature of their crimes.
'Pickpocketing is only actionable on a party's complaint and if the robbed person does not show up for trial, the complaint is thrown out,' Gianni Frazoi, the deputy commander of Venice police, told the daily, Corriere della Sera.
'The victims are mostly foreigners and they hardly ever come to the hearing. And so there are no trials and no convictions.'
Venice police said 41 people were caught pickpocketing or arrested between January and May this year but there were more arrests in June and July. In the first two weeks of May, police arrested 11 pickpockets.
All were minors but five could not be prosecuted under Italian law because they were under the age of 14.
Commandant Agostini rejected suggestions Venice was any worse than Italy's other tourist hotspots like Milan, Rome, Florence or Naples. But he did say it was sometimes difficult to get a conviction under Italian law, citing the recent arrest of an alleged Venetian burglar known as 'The Grasshopper' for leaping from one building to another and who has been in and out of jail for his alleged break-ins.
In early July, Venetian activists called 'Non Distratti Stop Borseggi' (don't be distracted, stop pickpocketing) at a street march warning tourists and residents to be more attentive in the fight against pickpocketing.
One of the leaders of the group, Monica Poli, known as 'Lady Pickpocket', could not be reached by The Telegraph but has been campaigning for years to fight pickpocketing and recruitment of children. She has been known to confront pickpockets on the streets when she finds them.
Venice mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, is calling for an immediate change to the law and broader police powers to tackle the problem which police say has surged after the Covid-19 pandemic.
'We cannot resign ourselves to the normalisation of crimes that damage people's lives and the city's image on a daily basis,' Mr Brugnaro said this week. 'We need urgent corrective measures. The government has to listen to local communities and guarantee urban security.'
Italy's national justice undersecretary, Andrea Ostellari, and interior undersecretary, Nicola Molteni, both from the far-right League Party, say they are looking at changes to the law.
Meanwhile, other Italian mayors including Daniele Silvetti from the city of Ancona, and Nicola Fiorita from the southern city of Catanzaro in Calabria, have also called for wider police powers to stop pickpocketing and street robberies.
The pickpocket victims reflect the global reach of Venice's allure. They include an 80-year-old British tourist, an Emirati sheikh fleeced by robbers near the Rialto Bridge, and a Chinese tourist targeted in St Mark's Square.
In the past week there have been a number of targeted attacks on well-heeled tourists in Italy, including British peer and eminent surgeon, Lord Darzi.
Lord Darzi was robbed of his £175,000 watch by thieves while he was on holiday on the Italian island of Capri this week.
Turkish tourist, Nevzat Kaya, had his €300,000 (£224,000) Richard Mille watch wrenched from his arm by three thieves as he returned to his hotel in Milan on Tuesday. On the same day a 60-year old Milan man had his luxury Patek Philippe Aquanaut watch stolen on the street.
