Cyclist fights off moped gang bike thieves armed with angle grinder

A London cyclist, confronted by four blacked-out bike thieves armed with an angle grinder who attempted to steal his Brompton outside a cafe in broad daylight, has told of how "depressing" the brazen attack was, advising others who are targeted to "make lots of noise and take loads of pictures".

Ben Derbyshire, an architect who is the former president of the Royal Institute for British Architects (RIBA), told the Evening Standard he had been left "shaken" by the incident, which happened on Friday morning as he ate with his son and daughter at El Ganso cafe in Hackney.

I find myself in an altercation with angle-grinder wielding rustlers after my #Brompton. Fended off with the help of son & daughter and the proprietor of El Ganzo!
Lesson 1: In extremis make lots of noise & take loads of pictures.
Lesson 2: Swap Brompton for my tatty old Giant? pic.twitter.com/vm6tIUREp2

— Ben Derbyshire PPRIBA FRSA HonAIA (@ben_derbyshire) May 12, 2023

Mr Derbyshire reported hearing "commotion down the street" as the two moped riders, each with a passenger on the back, came along "making a racket, revving and basically being as intimidating as possible".

They were all dressed in black and used an angle grinder to begin cutting through the D-lock on his daughter's bike in an attempt to get at his £2,500 Brompton, also locked to the rack outside the cafe.

Having run out to confront the gang, Mr Derbyshire quickly felt "in danger", ending up "rather pinned into position with a lot of bikes in front of me and people behind", meaning he "wasn't in a position to run away" if necessary.

Holding on to his bike, one of the thieves threatened him with the angle grinder, raising it towards his face, before the cafe's owner and Mr Derbyshire's son ran out to help as passers by filmed the incident.

"I think what happened was, from their point of view, it all got a bit too complicated so they chickened out," he said. "The proprietor of the restaurant came out immediately and was very supportive and very concerned and took our bikes in afterwards so we could finish our meals.

"I just think that's depressing and that they should be so aggressive about it. I mean, trying to intimidate me by, by pushing an angle, grinder into my face. That is not on."

Metropolitan Police attended the scene quickly, the cyclist reported, confirming that he was uninjured and able to cycle home. The police said there have not been any arrests, with witnesses who are yet to give information asked to call 101, ref 2586/12may.

Thieves wielding angle grinders and cutting through locks is far from a new problem, with footage of similar incidents sadly becoming all too common in UK cities. Last June, Labour MP Helen Hayes' bike was saved by a local councillor and staff working at a nearby restaurant after they spotted a thief cutting through the lock.

Just months earlier, a masked gang appeared unfazed by large crowds watching outside Surrey Quays shopping centre as they stole a Trek e-bike.

> Thieves use angle grinder to steal Trek bike locked outside busy shopping centre 

In February, thieves stole a cargo bike parked next to a bikehangar in East Dulwich, a member of the council replying to a social media post about the issue to report he had suffered two electric cargo bikes stolen within the last year.