Stolen handbag in The Bishop Saturday 8th June

[stephanieod15]

Last night at The Bishop, my sister's handbag was taken from the back of her chair while we were sat at a table towards the back of the pub at about 11pm. The table was never left unattended by our group of three and we seem to have noticed it missing almost immediately. After reporting it to the bar staff and calling The Actress, where we were drinking earlier on to retrace our steps, it appears this was one of many thefts last night. Handbag thefts were reported in The Bishop, The Actress and EDT.

We were told by The Actress it was a couple working together, a woman in a leopard print dress and a man both in their late 30's/early 40's. One of the tactics used as a decoy meant the man pretended to trip over in front of a table and while the people on the table got up to help him, the woman then swooped in a stole the handbags. However, this was not the case with us.

The Bishop staff checked the CCTV footage - but told us as it was so dark they found it impossible to distinguish anything but shady figures which was really disappointing as the camera was pointed in our area. It seems a bit pointless to take such precautions if they prove to be useless when required. I'm not aware if there were any cameras on the front door entrance at The Bishop which is manned by security staff - but we weren't told these had been checked as somebody walking out with the handbag (which was bright vivid green would be pretty noticeable). Two or three tables around us were filled but nobody spotted anyone suspicious or anyone in the act when we asked. We are waiting to hear back from The Bishop with more updates but up to this point, they haven't been much help...........

It was a really upsetting night and I'm writing this not only to vent my anger towards these thieving scumbags - but to warn others to be extra vigilant.

If anyone does see a Marks and Spencer vivid green satchel style handbag with a gold clip detail discarded, please contact me as this was a recent birthday present from my Mum to my sister and it would mean a lot to get it back.

We've already contacted the police and reported the theft as her bag also contained her IPhone 4S - which is now thankfully useless to the thieves as it is all locked - and her wallet and a makeup bag.

If you live around the area, please keep an eye out for any of the above mentioned items, as getting them back would be great, if not take this posting as a warning.

[mima08]

Hiya,

very sorry to hear about this - it is most upsetting when you personal things get taken, not just the money but the little things that have no value to others...

What is also scary that this report sounds like an almost exact replica of how my handbag was stolen in the Bishop 3 years ago - the suspects were a couple working together (although no clothing description at the time), we sat towards the back and no one on our table or the ones around us noticed anything. Plus, I was told there was a spade of thefts that day, too!

CCTV was also useless at the time - and no, I never heard from the Bishop, despite asking quite a few times for feedback/ whether the CCTV images could be used etc.

Hope your sister has more luck and get some things back

mx

[spanglysteve]

If I dont trust where I am and I have a manbag, I always tend to ensure my foot or chair leg is through the handles/strap so that it cant be easily taken away. Am sorry to hear yours was stolen.

[keane]

There was also a pickpocket in the new Gails bakery the other day he sat down next to a woman & her daughter and got his hand into the mothers handbag & was in the process of removing the bag or wallet bit the daughter yelled & he ran out of the shop & dropped it. The staff were reluctant to phone the police but the woman whose bag it was insisted that they call them to at least give a description. will all have to be extra careful as seems like a little spate of bag/pick pocketing going on at the mo.

[KylaKevin]

Feeling bad after hearing all this, because it is a very disturb condition when our hand bags were stolen, there are very important things in it which cannot be beneficiall to other but it belongs to you very deeply, But now what can we do just be carefull of your things so that so will be safe for these kind of incidents.

[JohnL]

Mine stays on my shoulder

I'll be dancing around it next :)

spanglysteve Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> If I dont trust where I am and I have a manbag, I

> always tend to ensure my foot or chair leg is

> through the handles/strap so that it cant be

> easily taken away. Am sorry to hear yours was

> stolen.

[stephanieod15]

mima08, keane and KylaKevin. Thanks so much for both your responses and kind messages.

I was hoping this post would receive more responses from the actual victims who had their handbags snatched on Saturday night. It is worrying to hear this type of theft seems to be more prevalent than originally thought in our area.

An update for anyone who may have been affected on Saturday. The Bishop has dreadful CCTV footage and honestly, have not been too helpful at all. We visited the EDT whose staff were extremely sympathetic. They were even willing to go through their CCTV footage to hopefully catch these morons. A ladies rucksack was taken from there on Saturday night. Apparently, a Barbour jacket was taken from within The Bishop last week, reported and again, no action was taken by the staff. Also, directed at The Bishop security door staff (the one chap specifically who was no help whatsoever), as you were pre-warned of this spate of thefts occurring as The Bishop was the last hit - perhaps taking action towards people who enter the bar quickly and leave in a rush or are suspiciously walking around tables etc, or, as the bar wasn't busy taking the time to warn people to be more vigilant would be a better stance than doing absolutely nothing....?? Also, perhaps as this seems to happen regularly in The Bishop, maybe improving your CCTV instead of simply telling people it is too dark to make anything out would be helpful?

The Actress, can't say thanks to Neil the manager enough. Really helpful guy (much appreciated by us!) who took pictures of this gruesome twosome and has put them on The Actress Twitter account, to both hopefully identify them and warn others of their pathetic appearance! A blonde girl with a topknot hairdo and a bald guy with a sports jacket and star t-shirt.

To everyone else, thanks for your opinions and advice. Hopefully my thread can go some way into ensuring this upsetting crime doesn't happen to anyone else. It's not only horrid having personal things stolen that are irreplaceable and of no value to these thieves - but also having to replace things like an Iphone, keys and cards which is going to be really expensive.

I really hope this awful twosome get their comeuppance!

[DJKillaQueen]

Distraction technics are commonplace with thieves now because people do take more care not to leave bags and valuables within unsighted reach, and some of those techniques are designed to steal things right from under your nose. Many years ago I had a purse stolen that was right in front of me by a distraction technique. Now I always keep money and cards (and keys and phone) in secure pockets when I go out.

On the CCTV thing....most modern systems switch to night vision when luminance drops below a certain level. It sounds as though the Bishop needs to upgrade their cameras (which isn't a prohibitively expensive thing to do).

[ianr]

There are two licences for the Bishop on the on-line register at present, 836635 of January 19 2012 and 840980 of May 08 2013. They're at http://app.southwark.gov.uk/licensing/LicPremisesGrantedResults.asp?TypeDesc=Premises%20Licence&RegisterType=LPG&TradingName=Bishop&batch=5&submit=Continue. They each contain these conditions:

288 - That the CCTV system installed upon the premises shall be maintained in good working condition and operable at all times

299 - Tha Two(2)SIA Door Supervisors shall be sited at the entrance to the premises on Fridays and Saturdays to control the entry and leaving the premises.

342 - That an appropriate level of lighting shall be installed to assist in the Prevention of Crime & Disorder. The lighting units are to be installed to the internal and external parts of the premises.

343 - That all staff are to be trained in Risk Management, applicable to the Prevention of Crime & Disorder.

345 - That the lighting and security shall be maintained in good working order at all times

> and no, I never heard from the Bishop, despite asking quite a few times for feedback/ whether the CCTV images could be used etc.

Examining those is the police's responsibility, isn't it? Though I suppose any pub manager has a general responsibility to his customers to help stop known-of sneak thieves from being on his premises.

Oddly, neither of them contains this condition, which I found in the first licence I looked at for comparion, that granted to the Plough on November 27 2012.

289 - That recordings taken by the CCTV system installed upon the premises shall be kept and made available for inspection by authorised officers for a period of thirty one (31) days ;

though I hope and presume that they are similarly retained and available at the Bishop.

[Jimi Henrdrix07]

has to be CCTV in the pub and the dog security must have seen something with a bloke walking out with a handbag?

[stacey-lyn]

Friend's bag snatched one lunch time inside the Dog (Village) a couple of years ago as we all sat eating. She just arrived from overseas so had her passport, money etc. taken so I empathise, stephanieod15. (Can't seem to locate the pictures on the twitter a/c - have they been taken down?) Btw, we have security cameras and the id problem has arisen before. Unfortunately the quality seems rarely suitable enough for police identification & conviction.

[DJKillaQueen]

Keeping CCTV for 31 days is impractical these days because most systems use hard disk recorders which would require a huge amount of hard drive to store that much footage. The average system can store seven to fourteen days continuous footage (at highest quality). Also transferring that footage to another storage format takes real time - i.e. an hours footage takes an hour to transfer so that's not a practical workaround either.

With regards to lighting, the best cameras to use are those which switch to black and white night vision when the lighting level drops. The system in our Tenants Hall cost around ?400 to buy, holds seven days of continuous footage (at highest quality), and in pitch darkness reads heat, and as one young chap who broke in at the dead of night found out, lights people up like a christmas tree. The Police told me it was some of the best footage they'd ever seen. He was subsequently arrested and convicted.

[UncleBen]

Sorry it happend but not being a victim of crime also depends on you and your behaviour. Despite all that is said on here you do not live in a shangrila village,you live in south london.

[KestonKid]

Uncle Ben - may I join others in thanking you you for your helpful and sympathetic post. Always a pleasure to hear from you.

[mima08]

ianr Wrote:

>

> > "and no, I never heard from the Bishop, despite asking quite a few times for feedback/ whether the CCTV images could be used etc."

>

> Examining those is the police's responsibility, isn't it? Though I suppose any pub manager has a general responsibility to his customers to help stop known-of sneak thieves from being on his premises.

>

Actually, the police told me to speak to the management at the Bishop as they (the police) were not going to investigate further - all they did was to take my details and report, but the police made it clear they would not look at CCTV as it was "probably no use".

TBH, I am not sure what I thought I could do, even if the CCTV images had been of any use...

[Sue]

Surely if the CCTV images had been useful, the police might have recognised the thieves?

I find it very odd that they apparently couldn't be bothered to follow this up. Surely catching the thieves would prevent at least some future similar thefts?

[DJKillaQueen]

Yeah I find the Police attitude (if true) odd as well. I also think the venue should offer up the footage as a matter of course following an incident anyway. That would be good business practise and reassure the victims of crime that they care about the safety of their customers. And if the CCTV system is so poor that it's of 'no use' in low light, then change it for one that is.

[StraferJack]

Commiserations to anyone who has their stuff knicked (I had my phone swiped in a pub just before Christmas) but I?m wary of this over reliance on CCTV ? especially in busy pubs

When my phone was knicked it never occured to me to ask the pub to get involved ? it was my own dumb fault ultimately (I'm not blaming the victim here - but it was me not paying attention, not receiving a kicking with no justification) . And if everyone who has something nicked asked the pub to pull up CCTV, go through procedures etc there wouldn?t be anyone serving drinks!

I?m not saying CCTV can?t help ? but with petty theft it?s surely far better and much more effective to just be alert. Every pub/restaurant you go into has some variation on ?management are not responsible for items lost etc etc? signs up, we?ve seen them for years so we should take responsibility. If you want to discourage theft you will do a MUCH better job if you look after your own stuff & keep an eye on your immediate environment

Much harder to be a thieving git (and get away with it) if people catch them in the act. Even if I had got the CCTV footage, even if it was pin sharp, it?s basically just another person who looks like a bazillion others. The resources used to track down a phone theft (and likely fail to do so) seems at odds with just us paying attention

The police aren't there to track down every crime/theft - there just wouldn't be the numbers. Let;'s say they identified the person who stole my phone and they are already known to them AND they know where they reside (already a number of ifs there). They find enough evidence to proceed with charging (again, unlikely - the phone would with someone else in minutes) and they review the CCTV footage. What they would have seen was the person at my table. That's all. Phone was under a bag and some papers. No obvious handling took place just my accusation that it was THAT person who stole the phone. I strongly doubt a conviction would happen

No I'm not saying they SHOULD get away with it, or condoning them as anything other than what they are - thieving gits. But no-one was harmed and given the unlikely outcome of chasing them down, I'd rather learn my lesson and let the police deal with more serious crimes

[Jacqui5254]

Absolutely!!

[Dopamine1979]

StraferJack makes some very good points.

It's natural to want to at least try to do something (other than kicking yourself) when someone pinches your stuff though.

[stephanieod15]

I really put this thread up to hopefully get in contact with other victims who had their bags/belongings swiped on Saturday night and more so to warn others in the area to be more cautious.

This theft by these absolute plebs has really had an impact on us. Not only now does my sister have to pay out for an Iphone, replace all cards, make-up etc (not counting irreplaceable personal items) but it's also been really draining on chasing up both the police and pubs for help and information.

The Bishop have been useless in all honesty. No help on the actual night, even though they were aware of the spate of crimes happening, and no help now with their unsympathetic stance and useless CCTV camera footage. Seriously, if it's that bad change it. If these sorts of crimes are happening in that pub regularly, perhaps put up signs to make people aware of thieves operating in the area and to warn people to be more vigilant.

After going down to The Bishop on Sunday afternoon and speaking to the manager who initially tried to fob us off by saying the CCTV footage was so bad and when we asked to see it for ourselves then telling us how difficult it was to pin point a specific time period (!), We arranged to go back yesterday evening at a confirmed time with him so he could have the footage ready for viewing. Show up and he didn?t have the CCTV footage ready as promised, said it wasn?t worth watching it as it would be a blur and you couldn?t make anything out anyway and if we did want to wait it would take him about 30 mins to get it ready (at least) so basically what he told us on Sunday when we went in. Obviously, he just didn't want to take the time to show this and probably didn't think we would show up at all. Why he even bothered to lie and say to come back in is beyond me when this crime obviously didn't even register with him as anything of significance.

Apologies for the moan above.

The Actress has pictures of these thieves. These weren't put in Twitter as originally thought. The Bishop only has (useless) CCTV placed at the back of the bar. The manager informed us there is none on the front door and no, it didn't register with the security chap to warn people on Saturday to be careful or look out for a man/woman exiting swiftly or walking around the bar suspiciously seemingly.

ianr, DJKillaQueen, Jimi Henrdrix07, stacey-lyn, mima08, KestonKid , StraferJack - thanks for all your posts and advice.

UncleBen - I hope if something like this happens to you, you get an equally unsympathetic response as the one you posted directed to me.

I know we don't stand a chance in getting back my sisters things - but why should these people get away with it? It takes the police days to take any action, they haven't even visited the pubs since this happened on Saturday. Now she has to cough up ?100's to replace items some scummo will just discard. It's disgusting!

Sadly, I'm sure we'll see another instance like this again. Keep your eyes peeled and I really hope this won't happen to anyone else.

[StraferJack]

I don't think anyone is suggesting they SHOULD get away with it

But on Saturday night, the police would most likely have been dealing with stuff of far more importance (no matter how important to you or me)

Ask for the most pinsharp CCTV footage available to man all you like but it doesn't help us get much further down the road

As you say it will happen again (we live in London - it's happening in a dozen places as we read this) and again - it's important we stay alert. The more we do that the more it's diminishing returns and that's what stops thieves ultimately

[stephanieod15]

StraferJack: In agreement with you, apologies if it came across any other way! Many thanks for your reponses.

It could have been worse, I know - but was just shocked how lightly these crimes seem to be treated, especially when it was a number of thefts by the same people, in the same area, on the same night.

Just hope they don't get away with anybody elses belongings.

[El Pibe]

I wouldn't get upset by UncleBen, I'm not even convinced he's strictly speaking human.

I suspect he may be some sort of self-aware composite of all the bile and misery ever spewed into the EDF.

A technological expression of East Dulwich's collective, curtain-twitching consciousness; the miasmic intelligence of our hand-wringing hive mind, in a deus ex machina stylee.

[StraferJack]

likewise I hope I haven't come across as unhelpful to you - all the emotions this evokes can be pretty raw

What it suggests to me is that most people don't think about crime and how it's treated until it happens to them. Most of us generally assume that crimes is at level X and there are X+10% police resources available to deal with it etc. But it really isn't the case

Threads that try to warn people only serve to give the impression that things are worse than they are to some people. But given the amount of threads on here over the years warning people to be careful, it's amazing to see just how many people (for example) wander back from the station glued to their phone, oblivious to who or what is around them. It's only when something happens directly do we leap from innocence straight to "the whole place is going to the dogs!!!" ;-)

I'm pretty sure I did see the CCTV pic from the Actress on the night tho...

Sorry if I have given impression of treating it lightly - it's more from a perspective what is best way of dealing with it.

It's petty theft, it has been around forever, especially in London, there will never be enough resources to deal with it (correctly so - it would be prohibitively expensive!) but we can use commonsense.