Inside Britain's Moped Crime Gangs

Reporter Livvy Haydock meets three of the UK’s newest criminals - thieves who commit their crimes using mopeds.
These thieves, who talk publicly for the first time, use mopeds to sneak up on members of the public or to getaway from crime scenes. All from London, they have contributed to an alarming rise in violent crime in the City. In 2017 there were over 23,000 crimes committed on motorbikes, an average of 64 per day. This is a 163% rise on the previous year.

Livvy rides pillion on the back of a moped with a thief who points out which members of the public make good targets and which ones are protecting themselves.

She accompanies an armed robber as he scouts jewelers in Notting Hill to point out security flaws, and she also helps one thief, who boasts about being a good race car driver, to quit crime by giving him a chance to impress in a Formula Renault test session.

She also learns about the impressive phone security hacking involved in making the thefts profitable. One thief is filmed selling five of the latest smartphones, all robbed within one afternoon, for £150-£250 each when the normal price on the black market is £30-40 per phone. This higher price is because the thief’s buyer is able to recycle the phones abroad without any loss of functionality.

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