Despite having given a good description, and having a security guard witness the crime and try to stop the cyclist (who was a teenage boy), the Met didn’t send an officer out. Instead, they took my call, and then sent me an email FIVE days later. The email stated:

“We are sorry to hear that you have been the victim of crime. An investigator from the Metropolitan Police has looked carefully at your case and we are sorry to say that, with the evidence and leads available, it is unlikely that it will be possible to identify those responsible. We have therefore closed this case.”

Nice to know that they are willing to do ABSOLUTELY nothing. I was insured, but so many are not. Shameful.

— Jessica O’Neill, Dalston

‘The victim was treated with total contempt’

Waiting outside a Catholic primary school at lunchtime to collect my 4-year-old in South Kensington, I saw a father physically and verbally assaulted by a man who objected to him waiting on the street outside his mews house (value £5M). Thrown to the ground, shirt ripped, mobile broken.

I waited until the police arrived (one and a half hours later). The victim was treated with total contempt by two policemen who felt it was a non-crime. They spent 40 minutes inside the violent wealthy resident’s house.

When I said the assaulted father wants to press charges for assault and criminal damage, they got very defensive and said the desk sergeant would decide. They didn’t want to give a crime number .

When I took their badge numbers, as is our right in the U.K., they became even more short tempered, saying that they have more serious crime than dealing with this. It’s no wonder the criminals are winning. We need a zero tolerance approach to halt the slide.

— Jason Piers, Kensington