Luxury watch thief mistakenly targets pair of undercover officers

CCTV footage shows the moment a watch thief mistakenly targeted a pair of undercover police officers posing as a wealthy couple in Mayfair.

The Met Police officers were wearing expensive clothes and accessories as a tactic to trap thieves in the upmarket area of London on 10 October last year. Yakob Harket, who had at least one accomplice, is seen following the pair before trying to steal a replica Patek Philippe Rose Gold watch from the female officer's wrist in Hayes Mews at around 6.15pm.

The male officer is then seen grabbing Harket as he tries to run away before a second male officer, wearing a suit, runs over in an effort to help apprehend the suspect. The second officer slips over and Harket manages to get away before being arrested shortly after.

The footage also shows two other men being arrested by plain-clothed officers in relation to the theft. Harket, 21, of no fixed address, later pleaded guilty to robbery.

His accomplice, Mohamed Naas, 34, from Southwark, was found guilty of robbery at Southwark Crown Court on Friday 11 April. They will be sentenced at the same court on 2 June.

Police are trying to locate two other men who failed to attend court after they were charged in relation to the same incident. They are Yanis Amri, 37, last known to be living in Camden, and Adel Mohamdi, 35, last known to be living in Lewisham.

Read more:Moment police tackle phone thief operating in central LondonMan convicted over £1.38m robbery of high-value watchesIndia's elite feel unsafe in London due to expensive watch muggings A Met Police spokesperson said: "Tackling violent crime is one of the Met's priorities and we are determined to reduce the number of robberies. "Uniform and plain clothes officers proactively patrol robbery hotspots to identify offences taking place, but more importantly to help prevent and deter offenders from committing robberies in the first place." Undercover Met Police officers have been wearing luxury watches to catch robbers red-handed for at least a year - with the force revealing the tactic for the first time in January 2024.

Footage released by the force showed unwitting thieves being tasered, rugby-tackled and wrestled to the ground in Soho after trying to rip high-value timepieces from the wrists of plain-clothed officers. It came after 300 watches worth around £4m were stolen across three boroughs in the capital between April and September 2022.

Investigators pinpointed "hotspots" in South Kensington, Chelsea, Soho and Mayfair where criminals were targeting victims - 98% of whom are men - as they left bars and nightclubs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 11pm and 4am..