Hundreds arrested for phone theft in London - as Met chief calls on courts to stop releasing offenders

More than 200 people have been arrested in the past four weeks as part of a phone theft crackdown in London - with drones and facial recognition used to catch those responsible.

The Metropolitan Police said officers had made 248 arrests for stealing mobiles and seized about 770 devices, with a further 122 people arrested for other offences as part of a wider effort.

Commander Andrew Featherstone revealed "cutting-edge" technology like drones, e-bikes, and live facial recognition had been used "to identify and arrest suspects quickly".

"These tactics are delivering results," he added.

Year-on-year, the force said the number of recorded phone thefts had fallen by almost 10,000 - going from 81,365 in 2024, to 71,391 last year. In hot spots like the West End, phone theft is down by 30%.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said fewer Londoners were "facing the stress, cost, and disruption that comes with having their phone stolen" - but called on the courts to stop releasing repeat offenders.

Some phone thieves are being bailed "only to go out and offend again", he warned, "undermining the hard work officers are doing to keep communities safe".

He also urged tech giants to do more "to stop criminals being able to reset, reuse or resell stolen phones".

'Too many have been a victim'

The commisisoner's call was echoed by mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, who said "too many Londoners have been the victim of phone theft".

Sir Sadiq added: "I'll continue to prioritise neighbourhood policing and will continue to push the mobile phone industry to go much further in preventing stolen phones being used, sold and repurposed, building a safer London for everyone."

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It comes after the Met Police announced last year that officers had arrested 46 people, suspected of being part of a criminal network smuggling up to 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China.

Commander Featherstone described the operation at the time as "the largest crackdown on mobile phone theft and robbery in the UK".

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