It was one of the most audacious robberies in London: a blue Mercedes driving full speed into the reinforced glass doors of a high-end art dealer in Berkeley Square, Mayfair.
The doors were left shattered and hanging from their hinges as the robbers jumped out of the vehicle and into the Phillips Auction House, grabbing artworks worth over £600,000 – including pieces by Damien Hirst – before escaping with their haul in a Mini Cooper.
The shocking robbery on May 26 last year, a Bank Holiday Monday, is just one of the most high-profile crimes to have struck the capital’s world-famous luxury district in the past year.
Mayfair, once a glamorous billionaires’ playground of leafy squares and high-end boutiques, has become renowned for a network of sophisticated criminals terrorising locals and visitors alike.
This month, career criminal David Rigelsford, from Kilburn, appeared at Kingston Crown Court with six other accomplices.
Prosecutors told how he was part of a loose-knit criminal fraternity who between them had used sledgehammers, bricks and cars to attack a series of luxury stores in a three-month rampage last summer.
Police were unable, however, to establish a link between the gang and the Phillips theft other than establishing Rigelsford had stolen the getaway car weeks before.
The gang’s haul, valued at over £100,000, included watches, artworks and designer clothes. They were jailed for total of 22 years.
It was one of the most audacious robberies in London: a blue Mercedes driving full speed into the reinforced glass doors of Phillips Auction House, a high-end art dealer in Berkeley Square, Mayfair. Pictured: Police outside the building in June last year after the break-in on May 26
Research by the Daily Mail has revealed that Mayfair, famous as the most valuable space on the Monopoly board, is now among the most blighted areas of the capital for street crime – with statistics suggesting victims are 30 times more likely to be mugged there than on an average street in the city.
The latest police data shows around 115 robberies per 1,000 residents in Mayfair, compared to just 3.7 per 1,000 people in the whole of London.
One local told us: ‘You get the super wealthy types from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. They come with private security now: they won’t risk it.’
A Met Police spokesman said: ‘Tackling violent crime in all its forms, including watch robbery, remains one of the Met’s priorities and we have reduced the number of personal robberies across London by 13 per cent since April.
‘Uniform and plain-clothed officers proactively patrol robbery hotspots to identify offences, but more importantly to help prevent and deter offenders from committing them in the first place.’
Here, we detail just some of the worst incidents reported in this luxury crime wave from January 2025 until today. It’s carnage and mayhem out there…
1. March 11, 2025
BBC Breakfast presenter Ben Thompson has his £7,000 Rolex snatched by a gang of six men, while his friend Roja Dove, said to be a millionaire businessman, has a diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe worth £150,000 stolen.
The gang followed the victims leaving Cecconi’s restaurant before attacking them.
BBC Breakfast presenter Ben Thompson (pictured) had his £7,000 Rolex snatched by a gang of six men in March last year
The gang followed the BBC Breakfast star as he left Cecconi’s restaurant (pictured, file photo) with a friend, who also ended up being robbed, before attacking
Danis Tom-Deter (left), 36, and Hocine Boulanouar (right), 26, were jailed at the Old Bailey earlier this month in connection with the crime
The broadcaster is left with a scar where his watch had been.
Danis Tom-Deter, 36, and Hocine Boulanouar, 26, were jailed at the Old Bailey earlier this month in connection with the crime.
Thompson says: ‘I no longer feel safe in London.’
2. March 14, 2025
Career criminal Jay McGinty lobs smoke grenades into the famous Claridge’s hotel and smashes open a jewellery display cabinet with a sledgehammer.
McGinty, 37, tries to grab £190,000 worth of gems – but is thwarted by security staff and is later jailed for six years.
Career criminal Jay McGinty (pictured, on CCTV footage) lobbed smoke grenades into the famous Claridge’s hotel in March last year
3. May 8, 2025 to August 5, 2025
In a sickening spree, seven go on a four-month rampage, stealing more than £150,000 of goods.
The men rammed a luxury clothes store with a car, smashed into a jeweller with a sledgehammer and broke into a fine art shop during seven raids across London.
During their rampage, which took place from May to August last year, they targeted designer store Fendi in Kensington, Clarendon Fine Art in Marylebone, The May Fair hotel as well as several jewellers and watch stores.
David Rigelsford, 37, was in the dock with Christopher Gibbs, 43; George O’Hare, 37; Paul Hughes, 42; Anthony Munday, 40; Lee James McCready, 45, and Matthew Windrass, 50. They were given jail terms totalling 22 years.
Left to right: Christopher Gibbs, 43, Paul Hughes, 42, Matthew Windrass, 50, and Lee McCready, 45, who were jailed after a four-month rampage in Mayfair last year
Left to right: George O’Hare, 37, David Riglesford, 37, and Anthony Munday, 40, who were also locked up for their involvement in the same crimes
4. May 11, 2025
Besart Krasniqi has his £65,000 Patek Philippe snatched in broad daylight while stopping with his pregnant wife to take a picture of his Bentley.
Two Algerian migrants who crossed the English Channel in 2019 are later jailed.
5. June 17, 2025
Veteran broadcaster Selina Scott, 74, is attacked and robbed in broad daylight while leaving Waterstones on Piccadilly.
She is struck in the right knee and believes she has been ‘stabbed’.
A gang, thought to be armed, grab her backpack, stealing her bank cards and cash. Ms Scott later says she is ‘furious’ at the lack of a police presence in the area.
Veteran broadcaster Selina Scott (pictured), 74, was attacked and robbed in broad daylight while leaving Waterstones on Piccadilly in June last year
A gang, thought to be armed, grabbed her backpack, stealing her bank cards and cash. Pictured: The bus stop next to Waterstones on Piccadilly in London
6. June 30, 2025
Axel Schwan, chief executive of restaurant chain Tim Hortons, tries to chase down thieves who snatch his £65,000 Patek Philippe watch.
Only one, Algerian migrant Ahmed Djidi, is caught. He is jailed for 22 months.
Axel Schwan, chief executive of restaurant chain Tim Hortons, tried to chase down thieves (pictured, on CCTV footage) who snatched his £65,000 Patek Philippe watch in June last year
Only one, Algerian migrant Ahmed Djidi (pictured), was caught. He was jailed for 22 months
7. July 31, 2025
A man is rushed to hospital after being stabbed five times with a kitchen knife near Claridge’s Hotel on Brook’s Mews at 7.30am – three times in the abdomen, once in the back and once in the arm. Witnesses spotted a bloodied knife on the floor.
8. October 14, 2025
US events company boss J Riccardo Benavides is pounced on and has his watch stolen by three men as he leaves the Cavalry & Guards Club.
The businessman writes online: ‘London police say these watch thefts are happening all the time now in Mayfair. So please be extra cautious.’
His three attackers targeted him (pictured, on CCTV footage) as he left the Cavalry & Guards Club
US events company boss J Riccardo Benavides was pounced on (pictured, on CCTV footage) and had his watch stolen in Mayfair in October last year
9. January 23, 2026
Shocking CCTV footage shows the moment a balaclava-clad gang storm Yves Saint Laurent’s Bond Street store with an SUV and make off with goods worth up to £30,000. Six men will face trial in September.
10. January 29, 2026
Hollywood fashion designer Catalin Botezatu, 59, is targeted for his £2million Richard Mille watch in Berkeley Square. A 33-year-old man has been charged.
Richard Mille watches (pictured, file photo) are some of the rarest in the world. Botezatu’s may have been part of the Sapphire Series which are carved from blocks of sapphire crystal
11. February 11, 2026
Sir Mick Jagger’s fiancee Melanie Hamrick is ‘physically attacked’ and mugged after leaving the famous Annabel’s nightclub in Berkeley Square.
The retired ballerina, 38, said two attackers grabbed her from behind, leaving her ‘shaken’ and ‘heartbroken’.
‘Two people grabbed me from behind and thank God for good people who stepped in to help me,’ she says.
Sir Mick Jagger’s fiancee Melanie Hamrick was ‘physically attacked’ and mugged after leaving the famous Annabel’s nightclub in Berkeley Square last month. Pictured: The couple leavig an event in Mayfair in November last year
The retired ballerina, 38, said two attackers grabbed her from behind, leaving her ‘shaken’ and ‘heartbroken’ (Pictured: The post she shared to Instagram after the incident)
12. February 2026
Millionaire Kuwaiti mogul Fawaz Al-Hasawi, former owner of Nottingham Forest football club, is allegedly stabbed in his bedroom after masked robbers broke in as he slept in his £10million Mayfair home.
Mr Al-Hasawi, 57, is left with stab wounds to his neck and hands after attempting to fight them off. It is unclear as to whether anything was stolen.
Fawaz Al-Hasawi (pictured, at a football match in 2015), former owner of Nottingham Forest football club, was allegedly stabbed in his bedroom after masked robbers broke in as he slept in his £10million Mayfair home last month
The millionaire Kuwaiti mogul (pictured, in hospital) was left with stab wounds to his neck and hands after attempting to fight them off
