A former Met Police detective who spent years tackling organised crime fears the rising problem of moped gangs targeting people on the streets of London is going to get worse.
David Videcette, a one-time anti-terrorism officer, says the black market is driving profits for "yobs" on mopeds who can get thousands of pounds a day after pocketing the property of innocent Londoners.
The policing and security expert has warned that the alarming rise in moped crimes will “get worse before it gets better” and that the Met Police could be years behind the problem.
London has suffered a shocking rise in the use these tactics with some boroughs suffering a staggering 2,000% increase in horrific incidents of thugs using mopeds to commit crimes.
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The number crimes is now 200 times higher in some areas than it was three years ago, with almost every borough in the capital seeing large increases.
Comprehensive new figures obtained exclusively by a Freedom of Information request (FOI) show the alarming spread of new criminal methods across the capital, predominantly used by young men aged 16 to 20.
Almost every kind of crime dealt with by the Metropolitan Police has at some point been committed with the help of mopeds and motorbike.
But far from being the work of thuggish opportunists Mr Videcette – now a security adviser for high-profile VIPs – believes that each robbery and attack is the tip of a criminal iceberg which reaches the murky depths of international crime groups.
Black markets for stolen goods mean youths on bikes can make around £200 per mobile phone they steal, according to his expert opinion.
Racking up double figures of hits per day, the fast cash flowing into criminals’ hands can be a temptation for those willing to terrorise the streets.
Mr Videcette believes anyone can become a target because most of the time we are carrying something of value to a would-be thug and moped robber.
He said: “People are being murdered for watches. All sections of society are being targeted, celebrities and people on the street.
“It affects everyone because we can all become targets.
“They are speeding down streets, riding up and down trying to grab bags and phones.
“One happened might in front of me. I saw a kid driving up and down the road and he looked suspicious.
“I thought to myself ‘they are going to rob someone’.
“Then they robbed somebody on the pavement, trying to take his Louis Vuitton bag, right in front of me. They slashed his face, with a blade of the edge of a hammer. There was blood everywhere.
“I chased them and their motorbike, but being in a civilian vehicle wasn’t the best. They zipped through the traffic and they were away.
“It was a perfect example. Showing something of value is a danger, because these criminals are so motivated.”
Incidents like the one witnessed by the security expert have become rife in London.
In just three years there have been more than 30,000 separate crimes involving two-wheeled vehicles.
The number of crimes involving mopeds and motorbikes has risen dramatically from 4,000 in 2015 to an astonishing 17,000 last year as the method is adopted by more and more criminals.
Arson attacks, thefts, robberies and even sexual assaults have been committed by criminals using two wheels, with knife crime and gang violence linked to the shocking trend.
However, theft is by far the main motivation for criminals using bikes, with more than 20,000 incidents in the past three years.
This is driven, police and security expert Mr Videcette says, by the market forces in a criminal underworld.
The thugs on the street are the visible element of a larger web of criminality which has been exploiting London for gain.
He said: “We’re all carrying around these devices, sometimes worth thousands of pounds.
“Now of course when they are stolen they are meant to be barred from use in the UK, and there are ways to stop their use across Europe.
“But there are so many unscrupulous phone shops, and there is a black market out there.
“Per time the theft of one of these mobile phones is worth at least £200 to these yobs.
“They go out and they all commit 10, 15 crimes per day.
“They will net themselves a couple of thousand pounds in a few hours. It just takes one lad to say to his mates ‘I know how to get some easy money’, and there you go.
“But they are not just opportunists. They are not working on their own.
“They have international experts and the backing of organised crime.
“What started with kids stealing mopeds is the business end of organised criminal networks.”
Although the number of crimes ranges into tens of thousands, it has been said that the number of criminals operating in London and using these two-wheel tactics is comparatively low.
But the rate of offending, and repeat offending, is what leads to staggering numbers of crimes.
What is more, the number of offences is predicted to rise again this year as it has for the previous three as the epidemic of moped crime rages through the capital.
Some boroughs have seen enormous rises in moped crime, with two-wheel vehicles often stolen to be used again for criminal purposes.
These thugs target multiple borough in one day, according to Croydon CID officers.
As police struggle in the tactical arms race on London’s streets, there is time yet for more young criminals to make seemingly easy money from theft.
Things are likely to become more bleak before authorities reign in the rampant crime criminal trend.
Mr Videcatte said: “This is a small groups of people, perhaps 200 to 300 are responsible for more than 20,000 crimes that we are seeing.
“The Met, I love them, but they have been slow to respond.
"I would say they are two or three years behind the actual problem.
“Groups of young criminals are telling their friends ‘I know how to make loads of money, this is what you need to do’.
“Things are going to get worse before they get better.
“I won’t be surprised if we go up to 40 or 50,000 crimes being committed like this.”
At present police are hampered in pursuit by laws which could see officers on the street prosecuted for dangerous driving while chasing a suspect, or face a thorough watchdog investigation.
It has been said that officers are reluctant to initiate a pursuit given the risk to their own careers.
New tactics such as spikes and DNA sprays are being utilised, but Mr Videcette firmly believes a change in the law in necessary to win the arms race against thugs who believe they can act with impunity.
