Bread and Bean Cafe theft
The thief, still wearing his helmet, snatches the laptop and flees on the back of a moped waiting outside. Bread and Bean Cafe / Twitter

A brazen moped thief has been recorded on CCTV running into a busy north London café and snatching a laptop out of a woman's hands.

The snatch and grab took place at the Bread and Bean Cafe, Archway, north London, on Tuesday (17 October) while the cafe was busy with customers.

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London-based moped gangs targeting pedestrians have made headlines in recent months after a spate of mobile phone thefts from unsuspecting citizens and an uptick in violent robberies.

But stealing from people inside shops and businesses suggests a more audacious approach from the gangs.

Footage from inside the café shows one woman sitting calmly with her laptop before the crook runs into the shop, grabs it and flees on a moped being driven by an accomplice, who holds the door open for a quick getaway.

In total the raid took less than 10 seconds and the cafe's owner, Valbona Sadiku, told the Daily Mail that it was the second time moped robbers targeted the premises in three weeks.

"It's unbelievable that these moped gangs will now actually enter peoples' property, it's gone to another level, it's horrific," she said.

"The police said they are putting up signs but that is nonsense. They told me there was only three of them."

It was also reported that a woman had her phone stolen by two people on a moped close to the cafe the previous night before the incident.

Sadiku told the BBC: "We thought it was a one-off, but now it looks like it's going to happen all the time.

"If they have the courage to walk into our cafe and steal from a table without repercussion, there's no telling what they could do."

After being notified of the incident, Islington Police tweeted: "We are aware of this. It has been reported and is being investigated.

"We will be in Archway putting new sinage [sic] up tomorrow warning of crime."

On Monday (17 October), a triple stabbing in Parsons Green, west London, left Omid Saidy, 20, dead and two other men injured with reports that the knifeman was riding a moped.

Last week four members of a moped gang that carried out more than 100 crimes against victims including former chancellor George Osborne in London over a 16-day period were jailed for more than 18 years.

And on Monday (9 October) a gang of six robbers stole valuables from central London jewellery store Mappin & Webb after entering the shop with a hammer and a machete and fleeing on a moped.

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