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The London Metropolitan Police have been using a wide variety of tactics to deal with more than 20,000 robberies occurring annually from moped enabled crimes after a number of high profile muggings in the capital recently.

Figures suggest that an average of 430 crimes have been committed per week in the past year alone.

However, the police have said that moped related crime has fallen steadily since July 2017 and there were significantly fewer incidents in the past four months.

Up until May 2018, there have been 22,025 crimes, with an average of 423 per week. Comparatively, in the previous 12 months there were 14,699 crimes that have occurred with an average of 282 per week.

The figures however, suggest that moped crime has more than halved in London since July 2017, where it was at its peak.

In May 2018, there had been a total of 1,154 incidents occurring, a fall of 55% since July 2017 when 2,593 offences were recorded.

This comes after a number of incidents had occurred in the last week including a woman remaining in critical condition after she was attacked in London after being punched by the pillion passenger as two men had approached her to steal her mobile phone and bag.

Additionally, comedian Michael McIntyre was robbed by moped thieves who were armed with hammers, smashing his car until he handed over his watch.

The Metropolitan Police have aimed to introduce a wide variety of tactics to combat the surge in moped crime, such as introducing slim line motorcycles to drive down narrow streets as well as remote controlled activated spikes and automatic tyre deflation devices. An additional measure introduced last October was fluorescent DNA spray which stays on the skin for up to eight week.

The police have been adamant in tackling scooter related crime by introducing a new campaign, ‘Be Safe’ to urge riders to ‘lock, chain and cover’ their scooters, making it less visible for potential thieves.

The advice to riders suggests:

• Using a disc lock to help secure the front brake disc, or use of a grip lock to secure the brake and throttle controls


• Using a chain lock through the back wheel and securing your bike, with the lock taut to stable object such as a ground anchor


• Covering the bike as it makes it less noticeable for thieves to steal.

Met Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt stated, “We are prioritising our resources where there is the greatest risk, harm and threat to communities. Moped-enabled crime is a huge priority and we’ve seen significant reductions.”

Since the beginning of 2018, the Met recorded a 22.2% reduction in scooter theft however thousands of motorcycles were still stolen.

Rubin Italia is Director of Duncan Lewis’ Crime department in Harrow. For specialist advice please call Rubin on 020 3114 1129 or email him on rubini@duncanlewis.com.

Rubin has extensive criminal defence experience means he is considered a key contact for many criminal matters and he has been involved in a wealth of criminal areas, from counter-terrorism, to the London Riots, to serious drug offences. Rubin is ranked in the Chambers and Partners 2017/18 guide and listed as a Recommended Lawyer in the Legal 500 2017 Edition.

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