Revealed: The West End's handbag snatchers
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Police today warned Londoners to keep a close eye on their possessions, amid growing bag thefts in West End bars, pubs and cafés.
They released a photo gallery of suspected serial thieves caught on CCTV by businesses taking part in Facewatch, a pioneering drive to tackle theft of bags, laptops and mobiles in Westminster, of which there are about 20,000 a year.
Chief Superintendent Simon Ovens said: "These are opportunistic crimes and I urge people to keep their bags close to them, keep them zipped up and call police if they are suspicious of people hanging round bars or coffee shops. Each crime can cause huge disruption to people's lives."
He also warned thieves: "If you come to the West End to commit crime you can expect to be arrested."
The images are from CCTV at premises including shops, museums, hotels and bars. Facewatch allows film of suspects to be uploaded instantly to a central database.
In one image, a man in a cap, jacket and tie appears respectable but, along with a woman though to be his accomplice, he calmly lifts a bag off the back of a chair at a museum. The victim lost her driving licence, more than £100 in cash and credit cards.
In another case, a man walks into a five-star hotel and picks up a £300 Samsung mobile phone before walking away. Another image shows a man apparently stealing designer glasses from a branch of Vision Express. Other pictures catch thieves stealing bags from customers in a bar.
Simon Gordon, the owner of Gordon's wine bar in Villiers Street, came up with the database idea and says his business now has only one or two bag thefts a month, compared with 80 a year before the scheme.