Why phone snatchers ‘should be treated as swiftly and firmly as rioters’

Phone snatchers should receive the same ‘firm and swift’ treatment rioters had this summer for thefts to stop, the head of the Metropolitan Police’s phone robbery squad said.

Detective Superintendent Saj Hussain has insisted those caught snatching devices should be dealt with ‘as swiftly and firmly as rioters were’ this summer as stealing four phones is a ‘similar level of criminality’.

He told Metro: ‘There was a sharp drop off of the number of people joining in the riots after people began to receive prison sentences of about four years.

‘We need justice for victims of phone snatching. But it is hard to keep a victim engaged when it takes a year just to get the defendant into court.’

More than 52,000 phones were stolen in London last year, with the worst-hit borough was the City of Westminster, with 18,863 incidents reported.

Camden was the second worst affected, with 4,806 incidents, followed by Southwark (4,376), Hackney (2,761), Newham (2,585), Lambeth (2,394) and Islington (2,117).

This number made up more than half of reported phone thefts in all of England and Wales.

Meanwhile those who took to the streets to join far-right riots across the UK this summer, including in London, found themselves receiving year long sentences in just weeks.

Detective Hussain admitted the Met needed to do more to try and find those responsible for stealing the phones, especially as some people try to track down their devices themselves.

One victim Akara Etteh went to two separate locations to try and find his phone as he was ‘fuelled by adrenaline and anger’.

He told the BBC: ‘It was pretty risky. The phone is expensive. We work hard to earn that money, to be able to buy the handset, and someone else says “screw that”.’

He said he eventually gave up after seeing his phone was tracked to China.

Detective Hussain said: ‘We can do better in recovering phones. We are trying to get ahead of the curve and we are beginning to see patterns form.

‘The areas with the best transport links are the hotspots, and places with access to the Elizabeth Line has seen an increase in thefts seemingly due to its opening.’

But he added the phone companies can also help more with stopping thefts, including making it impossible to re-register mobile phones.

He said: ‘This would help quash the lucrative second-hand market for phones if they can’t easily be wiped and registered to a new number.

‘They could also make sure tracking apps are even more accurate and can be seen as a reliable piece of evidence.’

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