Police Crack Down on Tube Robberies After Pregnant Woman Assaulted and Has Her Phone Snatched in East London

British Transport Police have launched a major crackdown on robberies across London’s transport network following the assault of a pregnant woman during a phone snatching incident at East Ham Tube station.

The woman, in her 30s, was punched in the stomach in a shocking daylight attack. A 17-year-old boy was later arrested after officers tracked the stolen handset using CCTV and intelligence.

The incident has triggered intensified policing at key stations including Stratford and West Ham, where The Standard joined both plain-clothed and uniformed officers on patrol.

Chief Superintendent Chris Casey, who leads the “robust” anti-robbery initiative, vowed to make the capital’s rail network a “hostile environment” for criminals. The year-long operation has already seen robberies fall by over 18 per cent, with 1,245 incidents recorded between March 2024 and March 2025 – down from 1,527 the previous year.

During the patrol, six suspects aged 16 to 24 were detained within an hour. Two were found with drugs near the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. Others were already known to police.

As part of wider safeguarding efforts, officers also returned a 15-year-old missing boy from Sutton who was believed to be at risk of gang exploitation.

Operation Invert, staged last September, resulted in 324 seizures of illegal items from 591 stop-and-search encounters. The force also uses knife arches and detection dogs at transport hotspots.

Jayden Gambrah, 18, from Uxbridge, is due in court this week charged with 10 counts of robbery and possession of a bladed article. Teddy Kelt, 20, from Romford, will appear at Inner London Crown Court in August on multiple robbery charges.

Ch Supt Casey praised his team’s “proactive patrols” and the work of new “Grip teams”, which have sped up investigations by sharing cases across shifts. “Every instance of robbery is one too many,” he said, “but the public can be reassured we are making progress.”