Three women have reported incidents of phone snatching in the Victoria ward of Hackney on the community social network, Next Door. The thefts took place before 8:30am. This comes after a Met Police report discovered that there were 12 reported snatches of mobiles or other electrical devices in the ward during September 2021.
One victim told Hackney Post that her phone was snatched at 8:30 am on 4 October, on Victoria Park Road, by a man who cycled past wearing surgical gloves and a mask. The woman managed to track her mobile’s location and started receiving notifications about her account details being changed, adding that it was a “race against the clock”.
Another woman was checking the bus times on her phone on Holcroft Road at 6:30am on 21 October, when a boy on a bike snatched it. She chased him until he dropped it. She warned locals to be “very vigilant”.
On 4 October at 7am, another woman claimed she had her phone snatched on Mare Street. She stated: “he came from behind and grabbed [the phone] on a push bike…”. She added that “[it is] so heart-breaking when you can’t afford another [phone]”.
The Met Police report identifies Mare Street, Well Street, Victoria Park Road and Holcroft Road as hotspots in the Victoria ward.
Mohammed Uddin, neighbourhood sergeant of Homerton and Victoria wards, advised that residents register the serial number of their devices on immobilise.com. He emphasised that plain clothes officers patrol these hotspots during peak times, between 7:30-9am and 3-4pm. Srgt Uddin also urged residents to report incidents immediately as this makes it easier to identify perpetrators.
