In a swift operation, a thief was arrested moments after stealing a rucksack containing £600 worth of belongings from a busy London station restaurant. Hossein Rabah, 34, was jailed for 36 weeks following the brazen theft at St Pancras International.
Caught in the Act by Plain Clothes Officers
The incident occurred on January 4 inside the Kineya Mugimaru restaurant at the station. Newly released CCTV footage shows Rabah, dressed in a padded jacket and woolly hat, entering the eatery. He can be seen loitering near a counter, pretending to examine food, before bending down and snatching a bag from behind an unsuspecting couple who were dining.
Unbeknownst to Rabah, his every move was being monitored by British Transport Police (BTP) officers in plain clothes who were patrolling the north London station. Seconds after he left the restaurant with the stolen goods, the officers moved in and arrested him. The bag, with all possessions valued at around £600, was immediately returned to the victim.
Swift Justice and a Warning to Criminals
Rabah's case moved quickly through the courts. He pleaded guilty to one count of theft at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in London just one day after the crime, on January 5. He was subsequently sentenced to 36 weeks in prison.
BTP Sergeant James Ashby commented on the operation, stating: 'Rabah prowled St. Pancras station looking for any opportunity to steal, but he was completely unaware that our eagle-eyed officers were attuned to his plan.' He emphasised that the arrest was no coincidence and highlighted the ongoing plain clothes patrols across the rail network to protect passengers and their property.
London's Luxury Theft Epidemic
This arrest highlights a broader and worrying trend of high-value thefts in the capital. According to recent data obtained via a Freedom of Information request, thieves have stolen over £5.5 million worth of luxury watches, handbags, and jewellery from Londoners in just 19 months, between January 2024 and August 2025.
The figures reveal a staggering total of 3,207 high-end items, each valued at over £1,000, were snatched on London's streets. Westminster was the biggest hotspot, with hundreds of items stolen. The recovery rate for such items is shockingly low, with police retrieving only one piece of jewellery from over 1,000 reported thefts.
This data underscores the scale of criminal activity targeting both tourists and locals daily, contributing to London's ranking as the 15th most dangerous city for crime in Europe.
