Shocking footage shows violent bikejacker swinging hammer at cyclist before stealing bike in latest Regent’s Park attack

Horrifying footage has emerged of the moment a cyclist was attacked and robbed of his bike by hammer-wielding moped-riding thieves, as part of the latest string of violent bikejackings to hit Regent’s Park in recent weeks – a renewed wave of criminality which has prompted the Met Police to assure cyclists who use the park that it will “direct uniform and plain clothes patrols to target criminals at peak offending times”.

Earlier this week, we reported that London cyclists who use Regent Park’s quiet roads for early morning training say they feel like “sitting ducks” after a spate of terrifying targeted attacks on people on bikes in January, which saw robbers using sharp objects to puncture tyres, threatening victims with hammers, and forcing riders off their bikes.

One of those cyclists who fell victim to this renewed bikejacking scourge in the north-west London park – which, along with its surrounding roads, has been the scene of numerous bike robberies in recent years – was Patrick Conneely, who had his £4,200 Trek Domane stolen by two thieves on a moped during an early morning ride on the Outer Circle road on Saturday 18 January.

Conneely, from Leyton, east London, was riding alone after arriving at the park early to meet two friends at around 8am, later than the typical pre-dawn raids favoured by most thieves in the area, when the moped gang struck.

🚨Lawless London🚨

The terrifying moment hammer-wielding bike-jackers attack cyclist and steal his £4,200 bike in London's lawless park. pic.twitter.com/2skhdgeGjX

— Grifty (@TheGriftReport) February 27, 2025

Footage of the incident, obtained by the Daily Mail from the Metropolitan Police, shows the two thieves – who had previously appeared alongside the 33-year-old cyclist to inspect his bike – stopping at the side of the road, as Conneely leaps off his bike before standing in front of it on the pavement.

After an initial confrontation, one of the thieves – who shouted at Conneely to “give me the f***ing bike” – retrieved a hammer from the back of the moped and grabbed the cyclist’s Trek, before swinging the hammer towards the rider.

As the two thieves escaped on the moped with the bike, Conneely can be seen attempting to shove them, while an onlooker phoned the police.

Cyclist attacked by hammer-wielding bikejackers in Regent's Park, London (credit: Metropolitan Police)

“They pulled up next to me and looked at the bike. I knew straight away what was happening and felt very vulnerable so went to turn around, but they then went into a side road and turned around too,” the data analyst told the Mail about the incident.

“The one thing I really didn’t want to happen was to get smashed off the bike because you can really hurt yourself. So, I wanted to be off it and be standing up when they came.

“When that video starts you can see me jump off the bike. They then pulled up next to me and one of the men was telling me to ‘give me the f***ing bike’.

“He then reached for his waist before returning to the moped and taking a hammer out of the box, which he raised above his head to swing at me.

“Someone called the police and they were there in about five minutes. They said it was the third or fourth call that morning. Cyclists are really scared.”

Cyclist attacked by hammer-wielding bikejackers in Regent's Park, London (credit: Metropolitan Police)

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Conneely, who was previously a regular on Regent’s Park’s roads, cycling in the area several times a week, said he has not been back since the terrifying robbery.

“I’m reticent about going back,” he said. “This is a place we go to exercise and it’s right in the centre of London – we should be able to enjoy it safely.

“A lot of people I know are now meeting outside the park to group up before heading in.

“To me it seems like it can’t be that many people doing it – pulling out a hammer to rob a bike is not opportunistic, it’s people who know what they are looking for.

“A sting by the police – like the one they did on watch robbers in the West End – would be the obvious next step.”

As we reported this week, just days before Conneely’s ordeal, Bethan Lloyd-Glass was the victim of a similar attack, as her Trek Émonda was stolen by moped muggers who shouted “give me your f***ing bike” and pushed her to the ground.

“I was on my way to the park when two men drove past me,” she recalled of the robbery, which took place at around 5.45am on 14 January.

“I thought it was quite unusual to see pillion riders at that time of the morning. We stopped at a red light and the passenger got off the bike, said to me, ‘Give me your f***ing bike’, then pushed me to the floor. Then he swung the bike on his shoulder, got back on the motorbike and drove off.”

Regent's Park cyclists (credit: Rory McCarron)

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Following this spate of attacks – and concerns raised by cyclists about police inaction – one club who uses the park contacted the Regent’s Park safer neighbourhood policing team to ask whether a car could patrol the area between 5.30am and 7am.

Adding to riders’ disappointment in the police response, they received the reply: “We understand your concern and frustration. Unfortunately, we are unable to change our working hours.”

However, the Met Police later assured road.cc that it is able to “direct uniform and plain clothes patrols to target criminals at peak offending times”, as a spokesperson insisted that the comment from the safer neighbourhood policing team did not paint the full picture.

The Met spokesperson added: “We know bike thefts are a significant concern, and we are mindful of the impact they have. Officers from the Regent’s Park Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team have been working with Westminster Council to tackle this issue, including patrolling hotspot locations in and around the park.

“In particular since January, we have stood up additional plain clothes and uniform officers, especially at night and before the park officially opens in the early hours of the morning. This is a key priority for the team, and given the violence used in these attacks, we will continue to ensure that we do all we can to put a stop to these crimes.

“Officers also engage with groups that use the park, and PCSOs from the team join rides run by local female cycling clubs. Making it harder to sell on stolen bikes through the second-hand market is also crucial, and we would encourage riders to register their bike with us for free so we can track them if they are stolen.”

Regent's Park Outer Circle (credit: StreetView)

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Meanwhile, the chairman of Regent’s Park Cyclists, Sean Epstein, said he initially had “sympathy” for the police investigating the bikejackings, which have since become a depressingly common occurrence in the park.

“The first few times it happened because the robbers wore balaclavas, they had no number plates, there were no leads,” he said.

“But it keeps happening and there’s no plan to do anything about it.”

The high-value nature of bikes has made them a concerningly common target for criminals in recent years. We’ve reported on numerous incidents involving professional riders, club riders and businesses being targeted in increasingly organised break-ins, as well as these frightening bikejacking incidents where riders have been robbed of their bikes during training rides.

In 2022, pro cyclist Jennifer George said she no longer rides alone after two bikejacking attempts as she rode out to Surrey from her home in south-east London. Likewise, former Alpecin-Fenix pro Alexandar Richardson was threatened with a machete and dragged for 100 metres by moped-riding muggers in London’s Richmond Park, a teenager later sentenced to 12 months for the attack.

Other incidents involving club riders have been reported across London, notably near Regent's Park, and across the United Kingdom, high-value bikes seemingly now an attractive target for criminals, something Cycling UK has speculated may be because of the perceived low probability of being caught by the police.

Cyclists and police near Regent's Park (credit: @rpcyclists on Instagram)

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However, the violent nature of the incidents targeting riders near Regent’s Park has been particularly shocking, with victims threatened with knives and other weapons.

And as if to prove the point that these crimes are nothing new and have not been dealt with by the Metropolitan Police, it's now a year this week since Regent's Park Cyclists, supported by British Cycling, Rapha, and Brompton, called on the Met to station more officers at the London crime hotspot in a bid to stem the seemingly constant flow of bikejackings.

Last year, like Conneely, The Times compared the robberies to similar crimes committed by “Rolex ripper” gangs targeting high-value watches in London, and reported that bikejacking victims had been told by the police that they believed the robberies are being carried out by an Albanian gang that is shipping the bikes to Russia, where high-end bikes are difficult to obtain due to sanctions.