Joanna Lumley ‘targeted by masked motorbike thieves who attempted to steal her car outside her home’
According to a report from a Times journalist, Joanna Lumley was allegedly targeted by masked motorbike thieves who attempted to steal her car outside her home.
Joanna Lumley was allegedly targeted by masked motorbike thieves who attempted to steal her car outside her home.
In an incident that reportedly prompted the Absolutely Fabulous star, 79, to rush out in her dressing gown as the vehicle’s alarm sounded, it is said to have taken place last week outside Joanna’s £2.5 million townhouse in Stockwell, south London.
It comes amid what police describe as a wider pattern of vehicle crime in the area.
A group of men on motorbikes allegedly surrounded Joanna’s car and attempted to start it before being disturbed. Officers from the Metropolitan Police said they were investigating a series of similar offences in the Vauxhall Park area of Lambeth in London, with three reports of vehicles being damaged in attempts to gain entry between 26 and 28 March. Police added officers had been speaking with residents to gather intelligence and provide advice on prevention.
Emma Duncan from The Times said: “A group of men on motorbikes had surrounded a car whose alarm was going off – one of them was sitting in the driver’s seat, yelling ‘I can’t f****** start it!”
Emma wrote in The Times she had been “woken in the middle of the night by a commotion”, describing how Joanna and a neighbour ran outside and shouted at the group, causing them to flee.
She added although the thieves were scared off, the vehicle was left damaged, including to the boot.
Neighbours told the Daily Mail several cars on Joanna’s road had recently been targeted, including a 1990s Rolls-Royce. One resident said there had been multiple incidents involving criminals “driving on motorbikes”.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Tackling car theft and other neighbourhood crime remains a priority for the Met.
“We have strengthened neighbourhood policing, with more officers focused on identifying and targeting the most prolific offenders who cause the greatest harm to communities.
“Across London, vehicle crime, including theft and damage to vehicles, is down by almost 15 per cent compared with this time last year.”
Elsewhere in south London, footage showed a driver using a Land Rover to ram a machete-wielding man reportedly attempting to steal a motorbike outside a Sainsbury’s in Brixton.
Recent days have also seen disorder in Clapham, where groups of teenagers gathered on two occasions along Clapham High Street, forcing shops including Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s to close early as police responded.
Retail leaders have criticised the Greater London Authority, with concerns raised to Sadiq Khan and Shabana Mahmood about crime in stores becoming “more routine”.
Sadiq said the “scenes we saw in Clapham earlier this week were utterly unacceptable”.
