Moped thieves ‘hooked on thrill of chase’
Former moped thieves talk of getting addicted to the adrenalin rush of mugging people on the street
MOPED thieves are becoming “addicted” to the rush of mugging people as they make up to £2,000 a day.
Two former gang members who targeted people in London told The Sunday Telegraph how their crimes became a “habit” as they craved the high from “the thrill of the chase”.
The men, who used stolen mopeds for crime sprees from the age of 12 or 13, also blamed so-called “drill” music, a hip-hop subgenre, for driving such thefts.
GLANCING momentarily at his designer trainers, Craig admits he was once an addict. The “high” he craved, however, did not come from drugs. Instead, the 20-year-old from North London was hooked on the adrenalin that kicked in when mugging people while riding a stolen moped.
“It becomes a habit. It’s the thrill of the hunt and the thrill of the chase. It’s a vicious circle. It’s all about adrenalin,” he said, his accent clipped in a patois drawn from street slang and rap music.
Wearing a balaclava to conceal his identity, he added: “When you’re in that moment you don’t really think about consequences. You see the easy money coming in. It’s addictive.
“There’s still that buzz behind thieving. You just think why do nine hours of work when I can get a moped and earn three times the money?”
Craig and Ronnie, another former moped thief, agreed to speak to The Sunday Telegraph on the condition of anonymity after meetings were set up through an organisation helping youngsters leave gangs.
The pair, both using aliases, offer a chilling insight into the way moped crime is so deeply rooted on some near lawless council estates that it has created a trickle-down economy.
With claims that a moped mugger can make up to £2,000 a day, a network has emerged with children as young as 12 being paid £50 to steal scooters, and thieves just a few years older honing their skills on the bikes, as crimes become more daring, organised and frightening.
“It’s now out of control,” Craig added, as he explained how new recruits start by snatching valuables from “easy targets” such as commuters emerging from Tube stations checking phone messages, or drunks staggering outside pubs, or people withdrawing money at cash machines.
With the stolen mobile phones, such as the latest iPhone, fetching up to £80, Craig, who started moped crimes aged 13, would make £500 in a day before abandoning his mugging spree.
“When I did the peds [mopeds] it was mostly civilians on streets with phones,” he said. “Going for a watch is
‘There’s still that buzz behind thieving. You just think why do nine hours of work when I can get a moped and earn three times the money?’
risky. Phones are easier. You’re in and you’re out quickly. I didn’t think about the consequences. I just thought there’s £70, whatever.”
Ronnie, 25, made up to £2,000 “on a good day” as crimes escalated to targeting high performance cars, spotting motorists wearing watches or jewellery before smashing a window and grabbing valuables.
More organised gangs targeted jewellery shops, where more planning is needed.
Both men knew police struggled to catch them; the stolen bike would not link back to them, the helmet concealed their identity, and they only operated in areas they knew well.
Ronnie, who started moped crime aged just 12, knew all the “rat runs” and could “slip straight through an estate, going up and down stairs” on a scooter.
Craig, who would never remove his helmet for fear of being identified, added: “Police know if they’re chasing you and you don’t have a helmet on that if they hit the back of the moped they get in trouble.”
Ronnie claimed some families on the estate where he grew up were so poor that parents often turned a blind eye if a son brought in money from moped crimes.
While Craig saved some money, most went on “silliness”. He added that he believed “drill” or “trap” music, a style of hip hop music linked to American crime, glorified “get rich quick” materialism. He said: “Drill music is 60 per cent of the problem. Kids nowadays look at rappers and think he’s showing this much money with a watch or a chain. They think, ‘I want that but I don’t want to work for it. I just want money quick’.”
However, moped crimes offer more than merely money.
“You get a rep [reputation] out of it – the neighbourhood respects you,” Ronnie said.
Now a father, he insists he is “legit” – he got a diploma and a full-time job to try to set the right example to his children.
“Moped crime can be addictive,” he said. “Thankfully I don’t have an addictive personality. I’m trying to show my kids they don’t have to do what I did. Just because you’re born somewhere doesn’t mean you have to stay there.”
David Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham City University, said violent criminals could become addicted to the high they experienced during robberies.
“It is called the ‘joys of transgression’,” he said. “If in the course of getting easy money you get an adrenalin rush – a high – it becomes addictive. You want to repeat that adrenalin rush and the circumstances in which it takes place.”
Another former robber, aged 20, said youngsters were drawn to high-speed moped crimes because they saw it as “easy money”, adding that there were no concerns for victims because the robbers “live in the moment”.
‘If in the course of getting easy money you get an adrenalin rush – a high – it becomes addictive. You want to repeat that adrenalin rush’