More grim stats have been released on Islington’s snatch theft epidemic – offences between April and August were 83 per cent higher than in the same period last year.
The figures, which will be presented to the council’s policy and performance scrutiny committee on Thursday, show there were 1,027 more snatches.
Theft of mopeds, which is strongly linked to snatch thefts, were up 45pc on April to August 2016 – an extra 132 offences.
As the Gazette reported last week, moped criminals are apparently becoming more brazen. In the past month, Bread and Bean cafe in Junction Road, Archway, has suffered two cases of moped crooks bursting in and stealing laptops.
Snatch and moped crime is one of the council’s key targets for its youth crime plan, launched earlier this year.
The committee will receive better news on knife crime causing injury to a victim (eight fewer offences, down 16pc) and gun crime (27 fewer offences, down 47pc).
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