Spotted: 3 hoodlums in Bedford square with bolt croppers

Just got a call from 6pt to say he's just scared off 3 chaps, 2 of them with bolt croppers, from stealing a rather nice Condor in Bedford Square, Bloomsbury.

They're still lurking nearby on their own (presumably stolen) bikes.

If anyone's locked up there or knows someone who is, head down if you can.

next time when he scare them off, take a photos of them.

post it online, and make sure everyone see it.

Ring the police! Ffs.

It was a fairly hurried call, chaps, I don't know whether he was able to take photos or if he spoke to the police. Will have to wait until he gets online.

well done to your mate! :-)

next time when he scare them off, take a photos of them.

post it online, and make sure everyone see it.

Hold on bike thieves while I chase you off I just need to get your photos.

meanwhile back in the real world....

well, take a photos before you start screaming at them tommy!

so, he called you? are you the police?

still good he scared them though

LOl someone does a favour nd he gets insulted. The police are gonna do Fuck All. We all know that, so why the grief? Good on your mate

More importantly, did they have scouse accents?

LOl someone does a favour nd he gets insulted. The police are gonna do Fuck All. We all know that, so why the grief? Good on your mate

Why is that everyone's stock excuse for not reporting it? It's completely moronic. Fair enough there's a lot of bollocks floating around about statistics but there won't be any about bike theft (attempted or successful) if it's not reported!

Because, quite simply, they won't turn up

Right, finally home. Details (minimal, admittedly, but many words).
I've read about this happening all the time on here but I never thought I'd actually see it, so to be honest I was a little bit shocked. I didn't call the police. I should have. There was a large police presence in Russell Square tonight but I did not think to go back and have a word. An error. On the other hand, my first thoughts were with you lot, and at least I told somebody.
Ironically I was looking for somewhere I deemed safe to lock up, cycled past the rack on the NW corner and saw a lovely Condor, poorly locked, and thought that if that was still there the nmy bike would be fine. The old lock up next to something more expensive than yours sort of security.
Roll up the road a bit more and check map to see location of pub I'm heading to, turn round and three hoodlums (roadie's word, not mine. pretty sure i called them 'little shits') rock up. they too stop to assess the bike security situation, but with visibly different intentions to my own.
blue baseball cap on one, large beige coat on another,the third was non-descript. One has what looks like a long olive-green nylon fishing rod bag on his back. takes it off, starts pulling out something heavy with long handles. at this point i'm staring at them with the "i know what you're up to" look, get out my phone and start walking towards them. They pack up sharpish and wheelie (yes, actually sigh) off to the next quiet square to spoil someone else's evening.
Unexciting, and no heroics, but whatever. If you own the white condor road bike in bedford square, take your wheel into the office with you ffs. quick release just sitting there is asking for trouble.

You've done something, that is the main thing and well done. You've got actually good descriptions there (a lot better than some I've been given - "some kid just smashed my window" "did you see them?" "yes" "what did they look like?" "I don't know") so you should really report it to the police. They can at the very least update crimint which will help for the area.

We (me and a colleague) nicked two kids milling around near locked bikes, one with a bike lock, one with bolt cutters, neither with a bike, for going equipped. This had to be explained to other colleagues as they weren't aware of the 'extra lock' method. I honestly don't know what became of those two kids but I even feel better that 1. some colleagues are more aware of a method some will use to nick bikes and 2. that the crimint entry will add to the knowledge of that area.

Unexciting, and no heroics, but whatever.

I actually think it was brave what you have done. Not everyone would do it: some people just do not give a shit, some will be scared of three guys, some would be afraid yhey will look stupid...

Consider: you stand alone against 3 guys to defend the bike of the person who you do not know and may be you will never meet. I would like to thank you from all of us: it would be anybody's bike. It would be horrible if I would loose mine. Cheers for thinking about us, I do appreciate!

I've wondered what I might do in a similar situation. Dialling 999 might be a bit over the top, but you can get hold of the Met for non-emergencies on 0300 123 1212.

Think the smart option would be to give that a try first, and only confront the little bastards if absolutely necessary.

Probably the same fucktards who had a go at stealing my handlebars outside UCL union. fuckers clearly didn't have the tools to remove handlebars from stem, but now my stem is missing a cap. cunts

Okay I think I know those kids from the description, these boys are known to the police, they'd greatly appericate hearing more information about it, even if the description is vague, so call the police as soon as you can.

The wonderful collective brain that is LFGSS. Will give that non-emergency number a call on my lunch break, cheers all.

yeah, ive seen those kids wondering around the UCL campus plus SOAS a few times. My mate caught them half way through his lock once and chased them off. Always seem to catch them nosing around the bike racks looking for easy prey. What annoys me is that theres often f**k all you can do about it.

Oh yeah they were in Covent Garden checking out bicycle too (they all were on stolen bicycle), even though there were a lots of community officier around.

that was 3 days ago I think.

i spoke to a police officer about this today at my RLJ'ing seminar ( yup i got caught )
i told him i would forward more info and he would forward to the metropolitan police ( as he worked for city police )
hopefully they can scan the cctv images and see if there is anyone recognisable

i spoke to a police officer about this today at my RLJ'ing seminar ( yup i got caught )

LOL They send you on a seminar? What do they teach you? Not to jump red lights

as a punishment for jumping red lights they give you 20 mins on not undertaking cement lorries
saved me £30 though
they tear up the ticket once you've sat up in their big hgv and tooted the airhorns