Moped thugs prey on mum and daughter
DRESSED in black from head to toe, this is the terrifying moment moped muggers pounce on a mother and her three-year-old daughter in broad daylight.
CCTV captured the thugs demanding jewellery from the stunned woman as she walked not far from her home in the affluent south-west London borough of Richmond.
They were forced to abandon their mugging only when workmen chased them off when the mother grabbed her child and fled. The attack is the latest to involve marauding moped-riding thieves plaguing our major cities.
Met Police figures show crimes committed using mopeds, scooters and motorcycles soared by 50 per cent in the year to May, reaching 22,025. Some robbers claim to be making £2,000 a day.
Footage of the Richmond attack last Thursday sparked outrage after being shared thousands of times on social media, including by presenter Amanda Holden, who lives in the borough.
It shows four men dressed in black and wearing helmets loitering in the street around lunchtime. The road may have been chosen because bollards restrict it to vehicles no wider than a motorbike. The gang, who have two motorcycles between them, can be seen watching passing traffic and talking.
As the woman and her child approach, one man pulls down his visor and sets upon them. The woman recoils into the road with her daughter, narrowly missing a car, before a large scaffolding lorry stops to assist the distressed family.
The robbers then disappear out of view empty-handed as several scaffolders give chase, with one grabbing a metal pole from the back of his vehicle.
Moped gangs, riding stolen bikes and wearing clothes designed to conceal their identities, know police are struggling to catch them. There have been calls for forces to adopt tougher tactics after the Mail yesterday reported how officers in Manchester dramatically captured suspects using scrambler bikes.
The Met, which was forced to clarify the latest attack was an attempted robbery rather than child abduction, said: ‘They threatened her and a young child who was with her. No injuries were reported.’ No suspects were arrested.