Knife-wielding gang raid Watches of Switzerland on Regent street

Terrifying footage shows the moment a moped gang armed with zombie knives and hammers stormed a luxury jewellers in the heart of London today as a violent crimewave engulfs the capital.

Stunned shoppers and tourists watched on as three of the thugs run out of the watch shop and jump onto mopeds, while another fled on foot.

Brave bystanders managed to wrestle a fifth raider to the ground, with police later confirming they had arrested a man outside Watches of Switzerland in Regent Street, London. 

Today’s raid comes amid a surge in violent crime across the country, with crime stats revealing that up to 54 moped robberies are happening every day in the capital alone. 

Less than 24 hours earlier, comic Michael McIntyre had a £15,000 Rolex watch stolen by moped thugs as he picked up his ten-year-old son from school.   

Thugs wielding machetes were seen attacking a motorist in Birmingham yesterday, while a woman was left fighting for her life later that night after she was punched by moped muggers during a struggle over her phone and bag in north London.

This year is also proving to be one of the deadliest yet in London, with detectives opening their 70th murder case last week as gun and knife-related crime goes through the roof.  

The London Assembly told MailOnline that knife crime offences were up 18.3 per cent for the year up to April, with 14,811 incidents in 2018 compared with to to 12,515 during the same period in 2017.

A large knife is seen lying on the pavement outside Watches of Switzerland in Regent Street, London following today’s raid

A forensics officer is pictured examining a glove left by one of the robbers at the scene

Police officers set up a cordon outside Watches of Switzerland (pictured), where raiders made off with several jewels before they were chased away

Officers said a number of weapons were recovered from the scene alongside a moped. Pictured are police at the scene

Steve O’Connell, chairman of the Police and Crime Committee, told MailOnline: ‘We continue to see a depressing rise in shocking crimes which leave Londoners vulnerable to the most harmful types of criminality which can leave people scared and with a legacy of emotional and physical problems.

‘We are determined to find out what is working and what is not in the battle against violence in London.’ 

Today’s raid is the third heist at the Watches of Switzerland’s West End stores in three months, as police made their first arrest since gangs began targeting the Regent Street and Oxford Street branches three months ago. 

As they sped away they left the woman lying in the street in Edgware with a serious head injury. 

An eyewitness in Regent Street told the Evening Standard that she saw several men trying to smash their way into the store and staff ushered customers to safety.

She added: ‘Staff on the doors of shops very swiftly got people in from the street. Some of the public managed to wrestle the guys to the ground.’ 

The same store was attacked by masked moped raiders in March, with thieves using knives, sledgehammers and a Samurai sword-style blade to break in.

A number of weapons were recovered from the pavement outside, with a picture on Twitter showing a blade resembling a samurai sword lying outside the shop.

Watches of Switzerland also has branch on nearby Oxford Street, which was also raided by moped thugs in April.

Metropolitan Police said that the thugs were still able to make off with a selection of jewels before they were scared off by members of the public

The brown leather glove, pictured, was swabbed before being sealed in a evidence bag

The gang had attempted to smash their way into the store but we forced to flee on their mopeds, leaving on of the bikes strewn across the road (shown)

A second moped was abandoned inside the door of the jewellers, after members of the public chased the gang away

A photograph shows the entrance to the shop, as well as what appears to be one of the weapons used during the raid

Using a red scooter as a battering ram, they forced open the shop doors before ransacking the shop.

In shocking footage, one of the group paces across the pavement waving a two-foot-long sword at passers-by.

Two of the group were able to enter while the other four remained on the street. However, those two became trapped behind the door.

Those outside are seen trying to open the doors so they can escape from the smoke-filled shop, before the group flees the scene. 

Watches of Switzerland also has branch on nearby Oxford Street, which was raided by moped thugs in April (pictured) 

No arrests have been made in either of the previous two raids, Met Police confirmed to MailOnline. 

It comes after a spate of violent raids on motorists including comedian Michael McIntyre, who was mugged by two men on a moped yesterday.

The comic was sitting in his Range Rover when thugs smashed his car window and stole his £15,000 Rolex watch as he waited to pick up his son in north west London.

A spokesperson for the Met Police told MailOnline: ‘Police were called at 10.18am to reports of a robbery at a jewellery store in Regent Street, W1.

‘Officers attended. It was reported that a number of suspects on scooters armed with knives and hammers entered the store and stole several items of property.

‘One male was arrested at the scene on suspicion of robbery. He has been taken to a central London police station. Enquiries continue to trace the outstanding suspects.

‘Anyone with information or footage of the incident is asked to call police on 101 quoting CAD 2179/05JUN or Tweet @MetCC.’ 

The same store was attacked by masked moped raiders in March (shown), with thieves using knives, sledgehammers and a Samurai sword

How London’s never-ending toll of moped thefts, robberies and attacks keeps rising

The spotlight was thrown on moped crime following a spate of acid attacks and robberies last year, including one attempt to steal the phone of former Chancellor George Osborne.

The apparent impunity with which gangs stole mobile phones, wallets and watches from victims led to police vowing a crackdown on the crimes.

But a steady stream of shocking offences has continued into this year, with every region of the capital being affected by the crime plague.

The map below shows just some of the attacks reported so far in 2018. 

1. January 10 – Moped thieves carrying knives rob a Tesco Express in Belsize Road, Swiss Cottage before fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash.

2. January 24 – Two moped riding thieves spend an entire day robbing people in Cambridge Heath Road and Mile End Road, Tower Hamlets.

3. January 29 – Members of the public, including an 80-year-old grandmother, intervene when would-be robbers attempt to steal the moped of a man in Crouch End.

4. February 4 – Man is stabbed to death after he fought back against moped robbers in Oxford Street.

5. March 7 – Investment banker tackled moped thief to the ground after hearing him breaking into his car outside his apartment in Beaufort Street, Chelsea.

6. March 18 – Moped gang armed with sledgehammers and knives attack watch shop in Regent Street.

7. March 21 – Simon Jordan, the chairman of Crystal Palace Football Club, is robbed of his £100,000 watch by moped thieves in Sumner Road, Croydon.

8. March 22 – Gang armed with angle grinder attempt to steal £100,000 BBC cameras set up on Putney Bridge and Barnes Bridge to record the University Boat Race.

9. April 5 – Delivery driver is dragged from his moped and stabbed during a brutal attack in Ronnie Lane, Manor Park. Group of teenagers make off with his bike.

10. April 7 – Moped gang armed with metal bars break into shop on Oxford Street before stealing luxury watches.

11. April 19 – Two men on a motorbike armed with a machete confront 17-year-old on Marlborough Road, Sutton and steal his moped.

12. May 2 – Five masked youths demanded mobile phones and money from boys in Albert Road Recreation Ground, Muswell Hill.

13. May 10 – Masked youths on three mopeds drove at parents on the school-run in The Avenue, Muswell Hill in attempt to rob them.

14. May 11 – Courier is forced to fight off two would-be motorbike thieves after they attacked him in a side street in Shepherd’s Bush.

15. June 4 – Comedian Michael McIntyre is robbed of his watch as he sits in his car in Golders Green.

16. June 5 – Members of the public intervene to tackle gang of robbers raiding a watch shop on Regent Street.

How moped crimes are rising in London with 54 robberies a day

Sitey Mairuf (pictured) was jailed along with three others for a series of robberies

Last year, moped gangs carried out robberies 54 times a day across London and are known to have been holding training sessions on how to snatch phones before they hit the streets.

Crime figures from the Office for National Statistics show police faced unprecedented numbers of organised scooter crimes in the first half of 2017, with incidents up a staggering 1,766 per cent since 2014.

From January to May, there were 8,192 crimes involving scooters – almost as many recorded in 2016.

Up to 50,000 offences a year are being committed by thieves on scooters and mopeds in the capital, while some teenage thieves are being arrested up to 80 times but not sent to jail.

Most of the muggings are committed by gangs on stolen vehicles and officers have seen a spike in moped thefts which has rocketed by 41 per cent in the last 12 months.

In December, a gang of knife-wielding moped robbers led by a talented teenage singer was locked up for more than 13 years.

Sitey Mairuf and three other teenagers muggers wore skull masks while targeting South London commuters on their way to work between December 2016 and March this year.

They stole six scooters as well as laptops and phones from their victims – which included a police officer – in Victoria, Mitcham, Herne Hill, Kennington and Camberwell.

Now police are warning it is dangerous to get your phone out in public and they are advising pedestrians to use hands free headsets instead to deter criminals.

Scotland Yard superintendent Mark Payne claimed that moped muggers are snatching 20 phones an hour.

The robbers, who usually operate with a pillion passenger, are capable of recognising a mobile phone in a target’s pocket from 100 feet away. 

Did moped gang stalk Michael McIntyre? Hammer-wielding muggers steal comic’s £15k Rolex as he picked up his son, 10, from school

Michael McIntyre has been left ‘very shaken’ after masked moped riders armed with hammers smashed the driver’s window of his £120,000 Range Rover and ripped the £15,000 Rolex from his wrist in front of his terrified son.

The comedian, 42, who is worth £38million, was waiting outside a school in north London, when he was robbed at around 2pm yesterday.

Police are investigating whether the moped gang followed him from his £5.7million Hampstead mansion with the aim of grabbing his Rolex or if he was the victim of a random attack because he was driving a luxury car in a wealthy London suburb. 

Michael McIntyre (pictured with his ten-year-old son) was mugged by two masked moped robbers yesterday as he prepared to drive away from school with his boy in North West London

As the thugs fled, the 42-year-old rushed round to the passenger side of the vehicle to comfort his son (pictured), who is understood to have been in the car at the time of the attack

The father-of-two was picking up Oscar, 10, who with his brother Lucas, 13, are the source of a lot of his material in his much-loved stand-up routines. 

Journalist Jane Moore, who is married to the comic’s agent Gary Farrow, believes Michael may have been targeted as soon as his son was in the car knowing the star would not risk them harming him.

She told ITV’s Loose Women: ‘How terrifying – his 10-year-old son is in the front seat of the car, and this guy pulls up alongside and he’s got a hammer.

To smash a window like that it takes about 10 or 15 goes. Can you imagine how terrified?

‘They probably targeted him because he had a child in his car, because as a parent you’re not going to take anybody on, you’re going to say, “have whatever you want, don’t hurt me or my child”.

She added: ‘Somebody please do something about these gangs’.

A fellow panelist Anna Richardson said father and son should seek counsellling and revealed she had needed help after she was robbed in a hotel room in 2016.

Mr McIntyre was in the Range Rover with his ten-year-old son in the front passenger seat at the time.

One witness told the Mail, and the star fell out of the driver’s side and appeared to try to fight off the robbers during the 30-second attack.

He then rushed round to the passenger side of the vehicle to comfort his shaken up son and give him a hug.

A friend said today Michael, who is currently on the UK leg of his Big World Tour, is ‘very shaken by the whole experience’ but was uninjured. 

Mr McIntyre wears his valuable Rolex most of the time (circled) but was seen without it on his wrist in the aftermath of the terrifying moped attack 

Where are the Met Police’s moped-fighting Scrambler bikes? 

Scotland Yard unveiled a new weapon in the battle against moped thugs rampaging across London in October, in the form of scrambler bikes. 

The four specialist BMW scrambler bikes were to be used to chase moped riders who use alleyways to evade chasing police cars.

However moped crime seems as rampant as ever, with the latest figures suggesting that up to 54 moped robberies occur in London each day.

Scotland Yard unveiled a new weapon in the battle against moped thugs rampaging across London in October, in the form of scrambler bikes

The force said it was also bringing in wider use of remote-controlled stinger devices and so-called ‘DNA sprays’ in a bid to stop the up to 8,000 ‘moped-enabled’ crimes tacking place in the capital each year.

More than 8,000 offences were carried out by criminals on mopeds in London last year. The figure is 16 times what is was five years before ago.

Thugs favour the bikes because they are easy to get away on and, if they remove their helmets, police can be reluctant to chase them in case the criminals are hurt.

The force said it was also bringing in wider use of remote-controlled stinger devices and so-called ‘DNA sprays’ in a bid to stop the up to 8,000 ‘moped-enabled’ crimes tacking place in the capital each year