Caught on camera: gang’s brazen hit on BBC
Scooter crew stop traffic and use angle grinder in attempt to steal £100,000 boat race equipment
AS THEFTS go, a gang of scooter thieves could not have been more brazen.
Armed with an angle grinder, they calmly halted London’s rush hour traffic and set about stealing BBC cameras fixed to bridges to film the Boat Race, which takes place today.
On at least two occasions the gang roamed the route of the race searching for £100,000 television cameras attached to scaffolding and trained on the Thames.
They first struck on Putney Bridge, one of four along the route of the race, just after 5pm on Thursday, minutes after the Oxford and Cambridge crews had rehearsed the start of the race. The gang fled empty-handed when challenged by an off duty policeman and a crew from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
The thieves then drove to Barnes Bridge where they outnumbered BBC security staff and cut down a BBC camera fixed to scaffolding. The gang then fled and remains at large.
Rowena Chowdrey, a photographer who managed to snap the thieves on Putney Bridge, said she was astounded by how brazen they were.
“They were very intimidating because they were dressed all in black and had black balaclavas underneath their helmets. All you could see was their eyes,” she said.
“They were big guys and very confident. It was the fact that they had the audacity to do this in the sunshine and in the middle of London’s rush hour.” Ms Chowdrey had been photographing the flotilla on a practice run for the race when she heard the screeching engines and brakes of the motorbikes.
“They did a recce first. I heard the revving of motorbikes behind me. They then disappeared. I thought they were kids messing around but, were checking out the camera.
“A few minutes later they were back. There were about five guys on three scooters, two of them on pillion. I could hear the angle grinder. A few of them had stopped traffic so they could get they away easily. Meanwhile two others in the gang were literally hanging off Putney Bridge trying to get to the camera.
“They were challenged by two offduty policemen. One of them broke the group up and stopped them using the angle grinder.”
Miss Chowdrey added: “There were about 60 or 70 witnesses. Everyone was scared and stayed in their vehicles. We didn’t know if they had knives.”
The RNLI on the river had spotted the thieves and turned on its sirens and lights to ward them off.
A spokesman for the RNLI said: “The umpire spotted a man interfering with a camera on Putney Bridge. As the inshore lifeboat was only a few hundred yards away, it made for the location.
“They produced an angle grinder and attempted to cut through the scaffolding pole supporting the camera. The RNLI boat went directly underneath and lit up the sirens and blue lights.” The scooter gang drove off towards Barnes Bridge where they managed to remove a BBC camera.
More than five million people watch the annual 4.2 mile university boat race live on BBC, and this year the corporation is celebrating 80 years of covering the event. Thirty cameras are used to film the race, and it is one of the most challenging live broadcasts the BBC faces each year.
A BBC spokesman said: “We always ensure there is adequate security in place to protect our staff and equipment. On this occasion, staff and security were outnumbered by the thieves.
“Our priority is the safety and welfare of staff and nobody was hurt. This is now a matter for the police.”
A Met Police spokesman said no one had been arrested and inquiries were continuing to try to trace the gang.