Bike thefts in Islington have soared throughout the pandemic, with numbers at their highest since 2011.
Metropolitan Police data released last month shows that Bunhill and St Mary’s are the borough’s worst-affected areas for bike theft: more than a quarter of thefts this year took place in these two wards.
Of London’s 32 boroughs, Islington ranks as the sixth worst for bike theft.
Gordon Abbott has had two bikes stolen in Islington in the last nine months. Last Friday evening, his orange Cinelli Hobootleg —which retails at £1,400— was stolen from inside his block of flats near Amwell Street. His first reaction was “disbelief”.
Abbott’s reliance on his bike as his primary mode of transport has increased during lockdown – he now uses it “hundreds of percent more”. He says that bike theft is a growing problem in Islington: “there are cut cables and cut bike locks lying by the bike stands everywhere you go.”
Cycling has been widely encouraged throughout the pandemic —in May, the government announced a £2 billion package to promote walking and cycling, whilst Islington Council revealed a series of improvements for cyclists— and bike sales have surged. According to the Bicycle Association, sales increased by 63% between April and June 2020. This mirrors the number of thefts in Islington, which decreased in April during lockdown but began to rise from May onwards.
Following a recent seizure of stolen bikes by the police, Chief Superintendent Steve Heatley said: “With more people cycling to work during the coronavirus pandemic, it presents more opportunities for thieves and we have responded accordingly, working with our MPS colleagues and implementing specific tactics to identify and catch these criminals – and return the bikes to their owners.”
Despite reporting his stolen bikes to the police, Abbott says he is “not expecting anything”. Within 24 hours of reporting the theft of his first bike to the police —which was stolen from behind his back with witnesses whilst collecting his child from school— he received a note saying the case had been closed. Bike theft, he feels, is “completely disregarded” – part of the problem is that crime is not reported by witnesses: “People must be seen doing it, and nobody challenges anything.”
In response to rising thefts, Cycle Islington, a volunteer-run organisation working to promote and advocate cycling in the borough, advise: “Remember to insure your bikes, get two decent sturdy D-locks as a minimum, get the details onto a database such as www.bikeregister.com. If the worst happens, tell the whole cycling community via @StolenRide and your local group.”
Gordon Abbott’s bike is still missing. If you have information, please contact the police.
