A pair of violent thieves who used mopeds to “target elderly victims”, including a man in his 50s who was stabbed over a bible, has been jailed for 32 years amid London’s ongoing crime wave.

The duo “hunted people down and made a sport of it” across south London, police said Saturday, detailing horrific injuries sustained by elderly women walking alone.

Detective Inspector Steve Brownlee, from the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Venice Investigation Team, described in a statement how they “attacked vulnerable people – often women – and left their victims afraid to be in the neighbourhoods they had lived in for years”.

Mikelle Alexander, 21, of Sutton, and Karim Hussain, 20, of Romford committed the crimes in 2017, between September and December, and were found guilty this year of 22 offences combined, including robbery and theft of a vehicle.

Mr Hussain has been put away for 15 years for the crime spree, with Mr Alexander handed 17 years behind bars.

The pair frequently targetted older Asian people, hoping to find gold jewellery, police said, and in one shocking strike stabbed a man in his 50s for nothing more than his Christian bible, which they attempted to snatch in his bag.

The man initially held on to his property, but the thugs returned with a vengeance, punching and kicking him to the ground, before stabbing him with a blade and taking the book.

In other attacks, “three separate, lone females were pulled to the ground, sustaining fractures and internal injuries whilst their belongings were stolen”, police added.

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Detective Inspector Brownlee commented:

“This was a protracted and robust investigation which has seen two more prolific offenders convicted of a series of violent crimes. I would like to thank the members of the public who came forward.

“I hope these lengthy sentences offer some measure of comfort for the victims involved and act as a warning to others that if you commit these offences you will be identified and arrested.”

Earlier this year, police data revealed that moped attacks and robberies have surged by as much as 2,138 percent in some parts of the capital in recent years.

And just last month, official data revealed that more than 90 percent of recorded crimes in Britain are not ending in a charge or police action.

As homicide and violent crime – including knife, gun, and sex attacks – continue to rise, the proportion of crimes resulting in a charge or summons actually fell by two percentage points in a year.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that over the same time period, sexual offences have risen by 31 percent, knife and sharp implement attacks by 16 percent, and homicides by 12 percent.