The £5,000 e-bikes used ‘nearly solely’ for crime: Most riders on motorbike-style electrical bicycles are ‘doing one thing flawed’, police boss warns amid two-wheeled crimewave gripping Britain
‘Menacing’ e-bikes worth up to £5,000 are being used ‘almost exclusively’ for a wave of crime on Britain’s streets, a police chief has warned.
Donna Jones, who is responsible for policing in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, warned the electric bicycles which resemble motorbikes are frequently being used by criminals due to their ‘agility’.
The police and crime commissioner claimed the majority of people using these type of e-bikes are ‘doing something wrong’ as she voiced her concerns over the spate of crime gripping Britain.
Silent and capable of reaching top speeds with dangerous modifications, thieves using these stealthy e-bikes are prowling around and waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on unsuspecting victims.
Detectives are battling an epidemic of theft in the UK, particularly in London, where phone snatchers are terrorising mothers, teenagers, commuters and tourists on a daily basis.
The e-bike causing the biggest headache for officers is the Sur-Ron, which have become one of the go-to option for robbers menacing British cities, where they are used by masked thugs behind a dramatic rise in ‘snatch’ thefts.
The Chinese-made e-bikes are worth £4,900 and capable of speeds of up to 56mph, allowing riders to weave through London’s most exclusive pockets, including Mayfair and Westminster, and strike before the victim has time to even realise.
Last year, TikTok footage showed two balaclava-clad riders zig-zagging through the crowds of Bond Street on Sur-Rons before swooping on a man filming a £450,000 Lamborghini and making off with his phone.
Several other terrifying moments have been caught on CCTV, where innocent walkers ambling around with their phones on show are targeted in split-second thefts before the rider, often accompanied with a pillion passenger, move onto their next victim.
Two balaclava-clad robbers riding Sur-Ron e-bikes weave between shoppers on Bond Street in September last year
The commissioner’s warning comes after police said £4,900 off-road Sur-Ron mini motorbikes have become the go-to option for robbers menacing British cities. File photo
This was the moment a woman had her phone snatched by an e-bike thief while walking through London
Another man is seen being targeted by a thief using a an e-bike with thick wheels in London
A phone thief’s electric bike is seized after police arrested a man outside the Ritz Hotel in Mayfair
PCC Jones has warned about the misuse of e-bikes which resemble ‘motorbikes’ with ‘big thick rubber wheels’. File image
Scotland Yard and the Home Office are in talks with Sur-Ron over cracking down on their use for criminality, with the company vowing to co-operate with law enforcement.
Just last week, shocking dashcam footage showed an e-bike phone thief snatching a device out of a man’s hands in the busy Piccadilly area of central London.
The robbery came as the Home Office announced mobile phone thefts have tripled in the last four years, as criminal gang members help fuel a booming export trade to countries including China and Nigeria.
More than 70,000 phones were snatched in the streets of London alone in 2024, out of an estimated 100,000 thefts across the UK.
Speaking at a recent Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Panel, PCC Jones specified that e-bikes which resemble ‘motorbikes’ with ‘big thick rubber wheels’ are causing issues for forces.
‘They are so expensive those bikes, they are nearly £5,000, and the police have said to me that almost exclusively, they are connected to criminality,’ she said.
‘Because, you can get a bike that can get you from A to B, that doesn’t look as menacing, and isn’t as quick, so because of the cost and the agility of them for criminals, it’s pretty much an exclusive market.
‘There are very few people that are riding them that are not doing something wrong, is what I’m being told.’
A dashcam recording captured the criminal carrying out the theft in busy Piccadilly with an accomplice on Saturday night
The stark warning came after a Portsmouth police officer was last month cleared of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after he used his patrol car to nudge into an e-bike (pictured following)
This was the moment the rider and passenger were knocked off the e-bike in Bognor Regis
PC Timothy Bradshaw was acquitted of causing serious injury to ‘prolific’ offender Mason McGarry, then 17, who fractured his leg after he was ‘thumped’ off the electric bicycle
Mason McGarry (left) , 19 – who has more than 40 convictions – and pillion rider Dominic Mizzi (right), now 22, were both knocked off
Mr McGarry and Mr Mizzi – who have a slew of criminal convictions between them – were left sprawled across the floor after being knocked off the electric bike
PCC Jones’s stark warning came after a Portsmouth police officer was last month cleared of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after he used his patrol car to nudge into an e-bike.
PC Timothy Bradshaw, 55, carried out the ‘tactical manoeuvre’ to knock off passengers Mason McGarry and Dominic Mizzi, who had more than 66 convictions between them.
Retired PC Bradshaw told jurors that e-bikes had been causing excessive problems for the local force in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, and balaclava-wearing offenders were frequently using them to carry out criminal activity.
The bike ridden by Mr McGarry and Mr Mizzi had been ‘modified’ to operate at a higher speed, the court was told.
The officer told jurors that e-bikes had a ‘nuisance’ for the local force and were often used for criminal activity.
He told the court that Mr McGarry – who had more than 40 convictions – was ‘top of the list’ for those using the bikes anti-socially in the coastal town.
Jurors had taken less than 20 minutes to come to a not guilty verdict and cleared PC Bradshaw of the charge.
The bike used by Mr McGarry – who estimated he was travelling at 15 to 20 miles her hour – had been ‘modified’ to operate at a higher speed.
Ms Jones, who has been the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner since 2021, also hit out at the troubles caused by e-scooters for officers in her force.
The Conservative politician said: ‘You will be committing an offence if you ride a private scooter on the road without an MOT and insurance because it’s not possible to get an MOT and insurance on them, so effectively, you are committing an offence.
‘It could be an unintentional crime you’re committing as a 15 year old if you’ve had one bought for you for your birthday.
‘There are lots of people using them to push drugs around at speed, and they can stick it over their shoulder, collapse the scooter down, get the lift, go up, drop off, come down, and they’re off again.’
Ms Jones said ‘a lot more education’ needs to be done when it comes to e-scooters, adding: ‘Parents would be loathed to spend £450 on an electric scooter if they knew they were encouraging their young person to go and commit a crime.
‘I actually think really, the responsibility lies with the government.
‘I said this to previous transport secretaries – you’re creating the issue.
‘Either change the law and make it lawful for them to use them but make it really clear that you need to go in cycle lanes, or make it clear through a national campaign that you can’t use private scooters – and then maybe Halfords would stop selling them.
‘But this is the problem that we’ve got.
‘We’re up against it.
‘You can buy them in shops like Halford, or online, then, of course people don’t realise they’re committing a crime when they buy one for their kid.’
It’s not currently possible to get insurance for privately owned e-scooters.
This means it’s illegal to use them on the road or in public spaces, such as parks, street pavements, and shopping centres.
E-bikes are legal in the UK as long as they meet the requirements, which include a maximum power output of 250 watts and a maximum assisted speed of 15.5 mph.
