Journalist’s Camera Stolen From Under His Feet at London Pub, Then Police Make a Huge Error

A journalist’s camera was stolen from under his feet at a pub in central London, but the police made a huge blunder that cost him his chance to find it.

Evening Standard reporter Luke Reevey had his camera, tripod, and microphone snatched in broad daylight while he was having a drink at a bar in Shoreditch, East London last week.

According to an article written by Reevey for the Evening Standard, cops may have been able to track down the suspects who stole his camera using security footage from the pub — if it wasn’t for a major error by London’s Metropolitan Police.

Reevey says he had gone to the Shoreditch bar with several other journalists last week to celebrate a colleague’s final shift. He had only taken a couple of sips of his drink when he noticed that the black backpack he had brought with him was missing from the corner where he had left it. The bag contained his Panasonic Lumix S5 II camera, tripod and microphone.

After staff told him that nothing had been handed in, Reevey realized that he had likely been the victim of a theft — something he says he had frequently reported on as a journalist. He and the bar manager then went down to the basement to review the venue’s security footage.

The security footage appeared to show two men near the pub’s entrance, with one seemingly moving his leg behind himself, hooking his foot around the backpack’s strap, and then dragging the bag towards him. The other man then appeared to bend down and pick up the backpac before the pair walked out of the bar — apparently without anyone noticing what had happened.

By the time Reevey checked the timestamp on the footage, only around 15 minutes had passed since the theft. He thought the suspects could still be nearby and that there might be a chance of recovering his belongings. Reevey says had the approximate time of the theft, a clear image of the men he believed had taken his belongings via the security footage and the direction in which they had left.

Reevey contacted London’s Metropolitan Police and explained to the operator where and when he believed the theft had occurred. He gave the location as: “In Shoreditch, right by Old Street station.” But when the operator searched for the address, she told him it was not listed on her system and said the incident “must be in the City of London”, directing him to contact the City of London Police instead.

Reevey tried to explain that the bar was not within the City of London and pointed out that, having reported on police incidents several times a week, he was confident it fell under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police. Nevertheless, he was provided with the City of London Police’s telephone number before the call ended.

Reevey says the City of London Police were “immensely helpful” when he eventually reported the theft and had the crime recorded, even though the incident had not occurred within its jurisdiction. By then, around 45 minutes had passed since the theft, giving the suspects plenty of time to leave the area. They could have already vanished into the network of streets and back roads around Old Street and Brick Lane.

The Police Error That May Have Cost His Camera

The following morning, Reevey received a call from the Metropolitan Police. He initially thought the call might mean his camera had been found, but instead received an apology from the force. According to Reevey’s article, the Metropolitan Police told him it should have dealt with his report and that he had been directed to the City of London Police because of an error in its system.

The problem appeared to relate to the way the force’s Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system records locations. The software is used to manage emergency calls and coordinate police responses. When a call handler enters a location into the system, addresses within the Metropolitan Police’s jurisdiction are marked with a “Happy House” tag, distinguishing them from areas covered by other forces such as Surrey or Hertfordshire.

However, when the bar’s address did not appear with the “Happy House” designation, this appeared to lead the operator to conclude that the incident fell outside the Metropolitan Police’s jurisdiction.

The force later told Reevey that there were three other indicators in the system that should have made it clear the incident was within the Metropolitan Police’s jurisdiction. The location was in the borough of Tower Hamlets, the postcode began with EC2A, and the bar was near Old Street station, more than a third of a mile north of the City of London boundary.

“We apologize for the handling of this call and for any additional distress this caused,” a Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the journalist. “The call has been reviewed internally, and appropriate action has been taken to ensure the same mistake does not happen again. The investigation into the theft is ongoing.”

The error raises questions about what might have happened if Reevey’s initial call about the camera theft had been handled by the correct force. At the time, he had security footage showing the two men he believed had taken his belongings, along with information about when the theft occurred and the direction in which they had left.

Reevey says he appreciated the Metropolitan Police’s apology, but was left frustrated by what could have been done had his report been dealt with correctly. Patrolling officers could potentially have been given descriptions of the suspects, information about their clothing and details of where they were last seen — while they may still have been in the area.

Reevey says he had expected that something like this might happen when he moved to London from the North of England, describing it as “the sad reality of living in bustling London”, but argued that experiences like his “should not compromise this great city’s standards.”

But Reevey ended on a lighter note, adding: “If you happen to see a Panasonic Lumix S5II going on the cheap on Facebook Marketplace any time soon, let me know — there’s a good chance it might be mine.”

Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.