A stolen phone is more than a mere inconvenience. It is a direct attack on people’s very feeling of safety in their own city. And yet Londoners would be forgiven for thinking thieves on e-bikes and mopeds lurk around every corner, preying on anyone with the gall to use their phone in public.
This menace has come to even greater attention in recent days through Sonny Stringer, 28, a prolific mugger who was brought to justice after stealing phones from 24 people in a day-long crime spree across central London. Yet this was the exception, not the rule. Overall in the capital, robberies have soared 20 per cent but just 5.7 per cent of culprits are detected by police.
