Masked thieves have stolen a TV news camera from Channel Seven presenters in London.
Reporter Laurel Irving said she and her cameraman Jimmy had just finished a live cross from Islington, in London’s inner north, on Wednesday when they were approached by two men on bikes.
One of the men walked up to Jimmy and demanded the camera, which is worth about $25,000, or £15,000, according to 3AW.
It comes amid a huge crimewave across London with moped gangs running amok, including repeated raids on jewellers.
The robbery happened just days after comedian Michael McIntyre was targeted by thugs who smashed his Range Rover with a hammer while his young son was inside and stole his £15,000 Rolex.
Laurel Irving (pictured) and her cameraman Jimmy had just finished a live cross from Islington, in London’s inner north, on Wednesday when they were approached by two men on bikes
Ms Irving, who is European correspondent for Australia’s Channel 7 News, said she initially put up a fight, but Jimmy warned her the pair had a gun.
‘I tried to grab the camera and Jimmy said ‘No, no he’s got a gun’,’ Ms Irving said.
‘So I let it go, and they took off on the bike carrying this very expensive and very heavy camera.’
Ms Irving managed to take a photo of the thieves as they were cycling away.
She told Melbourne-based 3AW radio the incident happened at about 10pm just after she had finished a live piece to morning show Sunrise in Australia.
Ms Irving told the station: ‘I noted that they were wearing balaclavas, which you would think would be a dead giveaway as to their intentions, but I kept working and ignored them and starting talking to the camera and while that was happening one of them walked up to Jimmy my cameraman and started talking to him.
‘All of a sudden Jimmy took the camera off the tripod which is when I stepped in and said ‘hey, what’s going on?’ and he said ‘no,no stay back Laurel,’ and was giving the camera to the guy in the balaclava.’
She added: ‘They didn’t immediately strike me as suspicious, however, Jimmy said he had his eye on them the whole time and he knew what was about to happen, you couldn’t stop it at that point.
‘We never saw any weapons but Jimmy was convinced that if he didn’t have a gun he would have had a knife.
‘The thing that didn’t trigger alarm bells for me was that they were dressed in quite up-market active wear.
‘They weren’t the scuzzy kind of down and outs of the world, they looked more together than that and they were riding mountain bikes.’
Ms Irving later thanked fans on Twitter and praised colleague Jimmy Cannon for how he handled the robbery.
She said: ‘Thanks everyone for the love. We’re all good. @7_Cannon was fantastic. The London crime rate though is crazy.’
Ms Irving managed to take a photo of the thieves as they were cycling away
The Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident.
Shocking figures released yesterday show the armed thieves are striking more than 60 times every day in the UK.
Campaigners and politicians warned the attacks were matched by disturbing rises in stabbings, drug crime and gang violence.
London now has a higher murder rate than New York, with more than 70 killings so far this year.
As an MP said parts of the country were becoming ‘like the Wild West’:
- Scotland Yard has logged 22,025 motorcycle muggings in 12 months – a rise of 50 per cent;
- Officers revealed that city gangs had set up 650 ‘county line’ networks to sell drugs in towns and villages;
- Police were hunting moped robbers who targeted comedian Michael McIntyre;
- A rank-and-file police leader said officers were wary of chasing them for fear of possible disciplinary action;
- A think-tank said shop theft cost £6.3billion last year – or £270 for every household.
The presenter later Tweeted about the incident and praised her cameraman Jimmy Cannon before describing London’s crime rate as ‘crazy’
Violent crime soared by 21 per cent last year, with 1.3million offences recorded by police. The figure was the highest since records began in their current form 15 years ago.
Knife crime rose by 22 per cent, robberies by a third and sex attacks were up by a quarter as police recorded 5.4million offences, 13 per cent up on the previous year.
‘It is alarming that violent crime in England is rising so fast,’ said Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman. ‘People are telling me they no longer feel safe in their own communities.
‘For some areas it’s fast becoming like the Wild West with criminals no longer afraid of getting caught. The blame rests squarely at the feet of this Government. Theresa May was responsible for slashing police budgets and even now she appears to be resisting calls for extra spending on police.’