Security at London’s St Pancras station is to be stepped up after a spate of Algerian criminals targeting wealthy passengers and stealing their luggage.
British Transport Police (BTP) are to increase patrols of plainclothes officers around the railway station, whose own security staff will also have a greater presence, after a number of publicised thefts.
BTP say intelligence shows thieves will often lurk around Eurostar platforms – connecting Britain to mainland European cities – and try to trail people with expensive-looking designer bags before swooping at an adjacent taxi rank and carrying out the thefts while an unsuspecting victim’s eyes are turned.
Items of luggage are swiped from the pavement as the victim is about to put them into a boot of a car, or from an open boot as the victim is placing other items on the seats. In response, plainclothes officers will regularly be stationed at Eurostar platforms to identify potential offenders behaving suspiciously.
Their aim is to track them through the normally busy station and intercept then arrest them as they attempt to steal, usually at a nearby taxi rank.
There will also be announcements at the station every 10 minutes warning travellers that “bag thieves operate in this area”.
Private chauffeurs are being trained to be extra vigilant about luggage while picking up passengers.
The increased security comes after a wealthy family who arrived at the station on a Eurostar train and went to get a taxi were targeted by Algerians Abdel Aitkebir, 35, and Medhi Fatih, 41.
As their luggage was being loaded into the car, the driver was distracted by an accomplice and Aitkebir grabbed two suitcases from the street and ran off. The cases contained items worth more than £600,000 ($800,000), including jewellery.
Shortly before the theft last October, Aitkebir and Fatih could be seen on CCTV scouting out the station. Photos of some of the stolen jewellery were later found on Fatih's phone.
Faysal Benoumechiara, 27, another member of their gang, was involved in a spate of thefts from trains or the back of cars in and around London railway stations.
These included a suitcase containing items worth an estimated £15,000 being snatched from a passenger at St Pancras after the thieves had again used distraction tactics.
BTP Superintendent Nick Sedgemore said specialist plainclothes officers are conducting regular patrols around the stations in response and are helped by CCTV cameras.
“We know how upsetting, inconvenient and costly luggage theft is and we are working tirelessly to crack down on this sort of offending at King’s Cross and St Pancras,” he said.
The London St Pancras Highspeed train company said it had asked its security contractors to patrol the station more often.
“The safety and security of our passengers is our highest priority, and these incidents are very concerning,” a representative said. “We have significantly increased security patrols around the station, working closely with both our own teams and the British Transport Police.”
Last week, another Algerian thief, Bilal Arbaoui, 32, was jailed for stealing a gold suitcase containing £175,000 worth of items outside St Pancras. In March, a police officer borrowed a bike to chase another Algerian, Hicham Labidi, who had snatched a suitcase from the boot of a taxi outside the same station.
The latest crime figures for UK stations show London Euston recorded 1,536 offences over the 12 month period. King's Cross recorded 1,479, while 1,074 were logged at London Bridge. St Pancras International recorded 1,035 crimes.
Designer brands
Other incidents at St Pancras involved thieves running off with a suitcase containing £250,000 of jewellery and designer handbags belonging to Brittany Button, the wife of the former Formula One driver Jenson Button. The couple had just returned from a city break in Paris.
At the same station, other incidents include the arrest of a man as he attempted to target a Brazilian family who were in the UK for a holiday.
Ramzi Rafadi pretended to retrieve items from a table as he took hold of one of their designer suitcases and discreetly wheeled it away. The bag and contents were worth about £5,000 but watching police officers swooped to arrest him. He was sentenced to 12 months in jail in June.
Fatih was sentenced to two years and four months in jail, while Aitkebir received two years and six months after each had pled guilty to one count of theft. Their accomplice has not been found.
Benoumechiara was sentenced to two years and three months in jail, having previously pled guilty to five counts of theft.
