Roald Dahl's grandson beaten up by pickpocketing gang after tackling thief on Westminster Bridge

Roald Dahl’s grandson has told how he was attacked on Westminster Bridge as he stopped a pickpocket from targeting a female tourist.

Ned Donovan, 30, a special constable in the Metropolitan Police, bravely intervened after noticing a thief attempting to pickpocket a tourist and grabbed him to stop him at around 2pm on Monday.

But then the thief and his accomplices turned on Mr Donovan, even biting his wrists in a bid to make him release the criminal. He was left with a black eye and bloody nose in the attack.

He said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Walking across Westminster Bridge yesterday, I saw a man in the act of pickpocketing a female tourist. 

“I grabbed him and stopped him before he could disappear. Unfortunately, several of his accomplices appeared and began to punch me, kick me and choke me to get me to release their friend, which I wasn’t going to let happen. 

“One up and coming black eye, bloody nose, marks on the neck, a scratched eye socket and cuts from him biting my wrist later, I’m recovering and very grateful to MPS Westminster and the NHS for all their help and hard work.”

We are shocked one of our special constables has been assaulted challenging a thief while off duty.

There is no place in London for violence.

📣 Help us - if you have footage of this attack call 101 immediately. https://t.co/wXV2co8sjO

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 20, 2024

Mr Donovan criticised bystanders who he said had filmed the incident on their phones instead of intervening to help him tackle the thieves.

“Sadly dozens stood around watching and filming, but no one attempted to help,” he said.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “We are shocked one of our special constables has been assaulted challenging a thief while off duty.

“There is no place in London for violence. Help us - if you have footage of this attack call 101 immediately.”

Special constables have the same powers of arrest as regular Met officers, including while off-duty.

Mr Donovan is the son of Tessa Dahl by her second marriage to Patrick Donovan and is the half-brother of writer Sophie Dahl.

He married Princess Raiyah of Jordan, youngest daughter of the late King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan, in 2020.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact police, quoting the reference 01/737141/24.