A couple has said they ‘broke down in tears’ after pickpockets stole £500 worth of gadgets from them moments after they got off a ride at London’s Winter Wonderland.
The famous annual festive attraction, which opened in Hyde Park less than two weeks ago, has already been targeted by thieves, with visitors saying phones and camera gear have been taken.
Charlie Hernan travelled all the way from Plymouth to visit Winter Wonderland on Friday with her boyfriend Sam when she had £500 filming equipment taken from her.
She told Metro: ‘I brought my GoPro and bought a new modification and memory card just the day before for my Youtube channel.
‘I was filming my boyfriend near a ride, put the camera in my pocket and when I went to take it back out 30 seconds later, it was gone.’
Charlie, 28, said she began to cry knowing she had been ‘taken advantage of and lost such a special video’.
But despite multiple CCTV cameras in the area, she said no one wanted to have a look to see if they could track down the criminals.
Charlie said: ‘I felt so helpless. I was told by security that the information desk would be able to check CCTV footage, but when I asked them they said there was nothing they could do.
‘There were loads of cameras around, even ones on individual stalls, but they wouldn’t help me either.
‘I haven’t even had a call back from the police yet – I have just accepted it’s gone.’
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The Metropolitan Police told Metro 12 thefts have so far been reported in Winter Wonderland.
Another visitor, Emily Craner, said she had her new iPhone 16 Pro Max stolen from her just after she left the attraction.
She had come down from Manchester for a work event and visited the site with some friends, but as she was leaving decided to buy a bottle of water.
But just moments after putting her phone back into her back pocket, the device disappeared.
She said: ‘I tapped my phone on the card machine, turned around to speak to my friend, put my phone in my back pocket as I went to unscrew the lid, and thenext thing it was gone.
‘It was so quick, there wasn’t anyone next to me and I didn’t feel anything. Just one moment I had the phone and the next it was gone, it was insane.’
This left Emily feeling ‘completely stranded’ in the city, as the thieves had also made off with her ID and she no longer had access to her banking.
She said in a Tiktok video: ‘I had no ID, no cards, no phone and no money, and no way to get home.
‘If I wasn’t with my friend I genuinely would have been stranded in London. I didn’t have a clue where I was. They took away everything.
‘I had a full breakdown in the street, I had a panic attack, I was crying and screaming.’
Last year 135 offences were recorded at Winter Wonderland, and 492 incidents of theft have been recorded there since November 2017.
This includes a woman reporting having her £685 Balenciaga trainers stolen while ice skating in 2021.
Police do not patrol the event itself, but they do operate around the park outside.
Emily has now warned people visiting Winter Wonderland to be extra vigilant, and to not take their phone out anywhere that may be vulnerable to thieves.
She said: ‘I feel really s***, depressed and just sad. It is one the scariest things that has ever happened to me in my whole life.
‘I’ve never had anything stolen from me before, and I feel like a phone is the worst possible thing, especially as it was brand new.
‘People need to be careful. If you are going to Winter Wonderland or anywhere around that area do not have your phone out or in your back pocket.
‘When I went down to the nearest Tube station, I saw a woman who was crying her eyes out with her husband because her phone had also just been snatched in the exact same spot as me.’
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland said: ‘We take security and any reports of theft very seriously and are looking into the incident reported to have taken place at Winter Wonderland in this article.
‘While cases of pickpocketing are unfortunately increasing significantly across London, 0.002% of this year’s Winter Wonderland visitors have reported theft.
‘We have robust security measures in place throughout the event – some which can be seen and more which cannot – to deter and detect this happening wherever possible and ensure our visitors have a safe and enjoyable experience.
‘We encourage visitors to always report any incidents to the Police, who we work closely with to investigate.’
It comes as data revealed more than 200 smartphones are snatched every day.
Some 78,000 people had phones or bags stolen from them on British streets in the year to March 2024.
That is a rise of more than 150% on the 31,000 ‘snatch thefts’ in the 12 months before, according to data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
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The Metropolitan Police said: ‘We are investigating all reports of thefts made to us since Winter Wonderland opened last month, including making initial contact with victims and gathering relevant evidence where we can.
‘We know that opportunistic criminals target areas of high footfall and tourism, such as Winter Wonderland.
‘We advise everyone to remain vigilant of their surroundings in crowded areas. All crimes, including thefts should be reported to the police straight away.
‘The Met’s website has a list of steps to help protect your mobile phone, and to support you from becoming a victim of crime.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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