More than 600 people including schoolboys as young as 14 have been arrested in a police crime blitz around a north London Underground station.
Scotland Yard says gangs are snatching mobile phones in London’s West End before storing and then selling on the handsets in the vicinity of Finsbury Park’s transport hub.
Intelligence suggests robbers use the Victoria line from Green Park or Oxford Circus to escape northbound with their hauls towards the Islington and Blackstock Road areas. It takes 10 minutes to travel five stops.
Others flee to Finsbury Park along the Piccadilly line from tourist and nightlife hotspots such as Leicester Square and Covent Garden.
The Metropolitan Police flooded the district with officers - including those from its territorial support group and mounted branch - to significantly reduce violent crime, robbery and burglary.
A Love Finsbury Park initiative partnered with British Transport Police and three local authorities to make the area safer.
Inspector Ross Hickman, who took the Standard out on patrol around the Tube station, said: “It’s a well-known fact, based on intelligence and information, that Finsbury Park is one of the largest areas in London for stolen property coming into it - that is all mobile phones.
“When we first launched, we led with warrants in Blackstock Road.
“A lot of that was to target mobile phone theft and the supply of drugs. That work continues.”
In that raid, 70 officers executed search warrants on three shops in Blackstock Road believed to be linked to criminal activity. Seven people were arrested.
London is the phone theft capital of Europe with one stolen in the capital every six minutes or around 64,000 devices annually. The black market trade in handsets is estimated to be £50million a year.
Since December 2023, the Met and BTP have detained over 600 suspects by significantly increasing police patrols in Finsbury Park and carrying out 17 warrants on addresses.
A huge amount of weapons, stolen phones and drugs were seized, as well as locating wanted individuals.
On January 14, terrifying footage showed the moment an 18-year-old Capital City College student was stabbed at lunchtime on Blackstock Road. Mert Guner, 22, is charged with attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon.
In December, eight people were held, £200,000 worth of illegal “pregabs” – or pregabalin, a Class C anti-anxiety prescription tablet - confiscated along with five Rolex watches and £3,000 in cash during a raid on a flat in Sotheby Road, Highbury.
Insp Hickman said his teams are working on a policing framework called “Clear, Hold, Build”.
The “Clear” phase involves targeted arrests and crime disruption, “Hold” means stabilising the area to stop offenders moving in to fill the void and “Build” is focused on community-driven action to address the causes of criminality.
In the project’s first year, violent crime in the Finsbury Park area is down 14 per cent, personal robbery dropped 21 per cent and residential burglary reduced by more than a quarter. But local business owners say police haven’t gone far enough and women live in fear of violence.
Insp Hickman concluded: “My colleagues are focused on continuing to deliver results. I am pleased to see these much improved crime statistics, but I want to hear local people saying that they actually feel safer.
“That’s a real incentive for us to come to work every day to protect the public, deter or arrest those who want to profit from criminal activity and build on this successful first year.”
Mayor of Hackney Caroline Woodley said: “We’re already seeing positive results.
“Love Finsbury Park is building long-term improvements to community safety by driving out crime and tackling the issues that make residents feel unsafe.
“During this first phase, we have increased our enforcement patrols and CCTV surveillance, and created campaigns calling out street-based harassment like catcalling.”
Councillor Angelo Weekes, Islington Council’s executive member for community safety, added: “We meet weekly with the police, sharing intelligence and CCTV footage and work together to engage with businesses, colleges and places of worship in Finsbury Park.
“We commission a patrol service to detect, deter and disrupt anti-social behaviour in Finsbury Park station, Blackstock Road and certain estates.
“We know there is more work to be done and look forward to continuing to work together to make Finsbury Park safer and more welcoming for everyone.”
Cllr Ajda Ovat, of Haringey Council, said: “As the scheme progresses and moves from stage to stage, it remains fundamentally important that community groups, residents and stakeholders continue to engage with our police partners and council staff from Haringey, Hackney and Islington as part of a tri-borough approach.
“That way, we can continue to create a far safer Finsbury Park for residents and visitors to experience and enjoy.”
