This is the moment an architect wrestles a group of moped thieves away from trying to take his £2,500 Brompton bike.
Ben Derbyshire, an architect who used to be president of the Royal Institute for British Architects (RIBA), was targeted by masked thieves wielding power tools outside a cafe in Hackney, East London.
The gang had tried to take his bike from its lock with angle grinders when Ben spotted the unsettling scene from inside the cafe.
The 70-year-old ran outside to confront them and was seen grabbing his phone with one hand while firmly clutching onto his bike with the other.
Ben's son and the owner of El Ganso Cafe also ran out to help before the thieves sped off empty-handed.
Ben shared a video on Twitter of the ordeal, writing that he had been involved in an altercation with "angle-grinder-wielding rustlers".
He told the Evening Standard : "I thought I was in danger.
"Especially at one point I was rather pinned into position with a lot of bikes in front of me and people behind me and I wasn't in a position to run away if I wanted to.
"I think what happened was, from their point of view, it all got a bit too complicated, so they chickened out."
He said he thought he was in danger and he has been left shaken.
He added: "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."
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the Mirror: "Police are investigating the attempted theft of a bicycle at around 10:55hrs on Friday, 12 May, in Broadway Market, E8.
"There has been no arrest at this stage.
"Any witnesses who are yet to speak with police are asked to all 101, ref 2586/12may."
