‘You've got to act,' says Tory MP who took on London car thieves
Gareth Davies was leaving his house in north London shortly after 10am last Saturday when the man in the black tracksuit walked by.
'He was dressed all in black, with a baseball cap, kind of hunched over,' the Tory MP said. 'I thought nothing of it.' But when he looked back, Davies, 41, noticed some unusual behaviour. The man crossed the road, walked past one row of cars, then crossed back and walked past another.
'I thought, 'That's a bit odd',' Davies said. 'So I decided to watch him and, sure enough, a couple of seconds later he's trying the doors of all the cars. He's pressing windows, trying boot handles. There were other people around — this was in broad daylight.'
• Sebastian Payne: Middle-class vigilantes are turning against the state
Davies called the police, providing a description of the man and his location. As Davies was talking, the man succeeded in breaking into a Mini. 'He's crawling all around the car,' Davies said, 'not looking to steal it but going through the glove compartments, side pockets, into the boot of the car.'
The man filled a bag with items from the car then walked further down the road, trying more car doors. It was at this point that Davies decided to follow him, walking ten metres behind while remaining on the phone to the police.
'Anybody that spends any time in London these days will tell you they've seen something happen, whether it's jumping barriers at Tube stations, trying car doors, stealing phones out of people's hands,' he said. 'And I'm just getting fed up of it. At some point you can't just rely on hoping that the police will catch them. You've got to say something. You've got to act. I felt there was a possibility he could get away, that he may hide. Because I also didn't know how long the police would take to arrive.'
Davies thought that sticking close to the man would increase the likelihood of a prosecution. 'There's over 60,000 thefts from vehicles every year and something like a 1 per cent detection rate. It's incredibly frustrating to think that people think they can act like that in broad daylight. They clearly think they can get away with it.'
• Rod Liddle: Fare-dodgers beware! Jenrickman is here to restore a state of grace
At one point the man turned around and clocked that he was being followed. 'He starts walking back towards me, which is unusual,' Davies said. 'The police said [to] get out of there very quickly. So I just crossed the road and pretended to walk away.'
Davies subsequently saw the man attempting to hide behind a bus stop. 'Just at that point, the police car came, literally in front of me,' Davies said. 'I waved and pointed directly at the guy. They got out of the car, pinned him against the wall, took the bag off him.'
Davies subsequently bumped into the Mini owner and explained that her car had been broken into. 'She felt a little uneasy about it and a bit confused,' he said. 'You feel violated by it. I think anyone would feel that way. This low-level crime is a real problem. In my part of the world, in Lincolnshire, you speak to farmers about equipment theft, sheds being broken into, tool theft. Robert Jenrick [the shadow justice secretary] has done some excellent work to highlight thefts from vans.'
It is not Davies's first experience of crime. This year he found himself in a confrontation with two men on a motorbike who were attempting to steal his car from outside his house. He called the police but while he was on the phone decided he had no choice but to intervene.
'They were going to take the car so at that point I went and shouted after them outside,' he said. 'But they didn't seem to have any fear whatsoever. The guy jumped out of the car, jumped on the back of the bike. The guy who was driving pulled in front of the car to where I was and basically said, 'Come on then'.'
Davies went back inside and the would-be thieves drove off. The police arrived 20 minutes later and found the plate that was fitted on the bike belonged to a van. The would-be thieves were not caught.
For Davies, his experiences are part of a much bigger picture, which he linked to the row over police funding in after the spending review. 'The buildup of low-level incidents creates a feeling of a lack of trust,' Davies, a shadow Treasury minister, said. 'Sadiq Khan [London's Labour mayor] has said that as a result of the spending review there's not going to be enough money and there may be police cuts. The Police Federation is saying that the chancellor is not listening to the concerns of communities who feel unsafe and not listening to our own home secretary. That's a problem.'
Would Davies advise others to intervene? 'I think they should, in the first instance, call the police. The only way we're going to tackle crime is by reporting it and making sure the authorities are aware. So you should not put yourself in danger, but you should call it out and you should call it in.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Nigel Farage becomes latest MP to cast doubt over Lucy Letby murder conviction
Nigel Farage has added his voice to growing concerns about the safety of Lucy Letby 's murder convictions, saying that he is 'getting more and more doubts'. The Reform UK leader was responding to a powerful article in the Daily Mail by Sir Jeremy Hunt, who was Health Secretary when the babies died at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Sir Jeremy called for an urgent re-examination of the case, saying: 'If Letby really did kill seven babies in their cots and attempted to kill seven more, no punishment short of the death penalty is too harsh. 'But if they were caused by professional shortcomings, we need to know why. 'More than anything else, we need to make sure other families don't have to go through the same tragedy.' He added he had noted the findings of the international panel of paediatric specialists and neonatologists, and had also read a 'wide range of expert concerns about the conduct of the criminal case'. Sir Jeremy said: 'Taken together... this analysis raises serious and credible questions about the evidence presented in court, the robustness of expert testimony and the interpretation of statistical data.' Mr Farage told GB News: 'I'm just beginning to get more and more doubts about that issue.' Since Letby lost her appeal last year a mass of evidence undermining the prosecution's case has been gathered by her new legal team. It has raised questions about the claim the nurse was on duty for every suspicious incident and over the testimony of Dr Dewi Evans, 75, the prosecution's chief expert witness. The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which deals with potential miscarriages of justice, is studying the new material, which includes evidence that Dr Evans changed his mind over how three babies died.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Tributes paid to police officer after his 'unexplained' death while on duty - as 'devastated' colleagues tell of sadness
Tributes have been paid to a 'well liked' police officer who died while on duty. Pc Ian Minett, whose death is being treated as unexplained, died while working on Saturday morning, Gloucestershire Constabulary said. Adam Williams, chairman of Gloucestershire Police Federation, said: 'I was lucky enough to work with Ian and he was well liked amongst all that had the pleasure of working alongside him and getting to know him. 'It is a massive loss to the shift, the station, and to the Constabulary as a whole.' A force spokesman said: 'Gloucestershire Constabulary is saddened to report the death of PC Ian Minett whilst on duty this morning (Saturday 21 June). 'PC Minett's death is being treated as unexplained but non-suspicious and the Coroner has been informed. 'We extend our thoughts and prayers to Pc Minett's family, friends and colleagues, and we ask that his family are given privacy at this difficult time.' A coroner has been informed of the death and it is not being treated as suspicious.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Keir Starmer branded a 'hypocrite' for condemning 'disgraceful' raid on UK airbase after previously defending RAF protesters in court
Sir Keir Starmer was last night accused of being a 'hypocrite' by Kemi Badenoch for condemning an attack on RAF Brize Norton – having previously defended airbase protesters and used them to build support for his Labour leadership campaign. The Prime Minister described the raid on the base by Palestine Action as 'disgraceful' and an 'act of vandalism' after the group posted footage showing protesters spraying red paint into the engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft. But Sir Keir has not only argued, during his legal career, that breaking into an airbase and sabotaging its aircraft should be legal – he actually featured an activist in the video used to launch his successful leadership bid in 2020. When he was working as a human-rights barrister, Sir Keir defended Josh Richards, who was arrested after cutting the fence at RAF Fairford while carrying a petrol mixture intended to set fire to the aircraft. In stark contrast to his words on Friday, Starmer argued that Mr Richards' action was legal on the grounds that he was acting to prevent a wider crime – the Iraq war. Sir Keir also represented Lindis Percy, who was arrested over 500 times for breaking into and protesting outside RAF and US bases. In January 2020, when he was running for the Labour leadership, Sir Keir featured Ms Percy in his campaign launch video, in which she said, against the backdrop of images of campaigners: 'Keir defended me, and many others, to bring public scrutiny and awareness to the presence of the US visiting forces so that we can live in a more peaceful and less secretive society. Keir never asked for anything in return.' After Friday's attack, Sir Keir posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, saying: 'The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful. 'Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.' Last night, after No10 tried to justify the Prime Minister's actions by saying that under the 'cab rank rule' barristers were obliged to accept any case they were offered, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'This is nothing to do with the barristers' cab rank rule or a lawyer defending their client. 'It's about integrity. I believe that those who aim to damage the British military are extremists and criminals who deserve to be thrown in jail. 'Keir Starmer is so proud of them he puts them in his campaign videos for the Labour leadership. 'This might help explain why, from paying £30billion to surrender the Chagos Islands, to signing several bad trade deals, when this Labour Prime Minister negotiates, Britain keeps losing. Starmer is a hypocrite and represents everything that is wrong with politics.' Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will move to proscribe the Palestine Action group in the coming weeks, effectively branding it as a terrorist organisation. It comes as the intelligence services are investigating whether Palestine Action has been covertly funded by Iran. A security review is now under way at military bases across the UK. A spokesman for Palestine Action said: 'When our government fails to uphold its moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action.' UK defence industry representatives have met with ministers on five occasions, appealing for them to take action against the group, arguing that the cost from the protests is running into tens of millions of pounds. Kevin Craven, the chief executive officer of ADS, the trade association for the UK's aerospace defence security and space sectors, said: 'We have repeatedly engaged with government and policing services, who are responding to a complex and evolving situation in a considered, encouraging and appropriate manner. 'But the scenes from Brize Norton are extremely worrying, and are indicative of a wider environment that our defence sector has been facing for some time. 'Regrettably, this type of violence and criminal damage is not new to our sectors; our members have been increasingly targeted over the past two years.'
