Dame Joanna Lumley, the 79-year-old star of 'Absolutely Fabulous', confronted thieves attempting to steal her car outside her £2.5 million townhouse in Stockwell, south London. The actress emerged from her home to find a group of masked men revving motorbikes and trying to break into her vehicle, with one thief already in the driver's seat but unable to start the car as the alarm blared.
Lumley and a neighbour shouted at the gang, who fled the scene, leaving damage to the boot of her car. The incident was first reported by Times columnist Emma Duncan, who described coming out in the middle of the night to help. 'I yelled at them to f*** off; at which point I realised that Joanna Lumley, who lives down the street, had joined me and was doing much the same. The men obligingly f*** off,' she wrote.
A neighbour told Mail Online that police had warned residents on March 28 about a series of car break-ins in the area, with another noting 'quite a few' thefts by 'thieves on motorbikes'. Police confirmed three reports of attempted break-ins to vehicles in the area between March 26 and 28. The Metropolitan Police stated that vehicle crime across London is down nearly 15 per cent compared with last year, but acknowledged that tackling car theft remains a priority.
Statistics show that almost half of Londoners have suffered vehicle crime in the past 12 months, according to RAC research. Data from the House of Commons library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, indicated that 88.5 per cent of car thefts reported to the Met in January were unsolved. The Liberal Democrats have called for a specialist crack team based at the National Crime Agency to target organised car crime networks.
A Home Office spokesman said 'not enough has been done to prevent these crimes or to bring those responsible to justice', and highlighted new laws to ban devices used to steal vehicles, along with training for police and working with industry.
