Winter Wonderland plagued by pick-pockets targeting mobile phones

Tourists said they ‘broke down in tears’ after pickpockets stole £500 worth of gadgets from them moments after they got off a ride at London’s Winter Wonderland.

The famous annual festive attraction, which opened in Hyde Park, central London, less than two weeks ago but has already been targeted by thieves, with visitors saying their phones and camera gear have been taken as they came off rides.

Charlie Hernan, travelled all the way from Plymouth to visit Winter Wonderland on Friday with her boyfriend Sam when she had £500 filming equipment taken from her.

She told Metro: ‘I brought my GoPro and bought a new modification and memory card just the day before for my Youtube channel.

‘I was filming my boyfriend near a ride, put the camera in the pocket and when I went to take it back out 30 seconds later, it was gone.’

Charlie, 28, said she began to cry knowing she had been ‘taken advantage of and lost such a special video’.

But despite multiple CCTV cameras in the area, she said no one wanted to have a look to see if they could track down the criminals.

Charlie said: ‘I felt so helpless. I was told by security that the information desk would be able to check CCTV footage, but when I asked them they said there was nothing they could do.

‘There were loads of cameras around, even ones on individual stalls but they wouldn’t help me either.

‘I haven’t even had a call back from the police yet – I have accepted it’s gone now.’

Another visitor, Emily Craner, said she had her new iPhone 16 Pro Max stolen from her while leaving the attraction.

She had come down from Manchester for a work event and visited the site with some friends, but as she was leaving decided to buy a bottle of water.

@emilyjanelife

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But just moments after taking her phone out to pay for it, the device had disappeared out of her back pocket.

She said: ‘I tapped my phone on the card machine, turned around to speak to my friend, put my phone in my back pocket as I went to unscrew the lid, and thenext thing it was gone.

‘It was so quick, there wasn’t anyone next to me and I didn’t feel anything. Just one moment I had the phone and the next it was gone, it was insane.’

This left Emily feeling ‘completely stranded’ in the city, as the thieves had also made off with her ID and she no longer had access to her banking.

She said in a Tiktok video: ‘I had no ID, no cards, no phone and no money, and no way to get home.

‘If I wasn’t with my friend I genuinely would have been stranded in London. I didn’t have a clue where I was. They took away everything.

‘I had a full break down in the street, I had a panic attack, I was crying and screaming.’

Last year 135 offences were recorded at Winter Wonderland, and 492 incidents of theft have been recorded there since November 2017.

This includes a woman reporting having her £685 Balenciaga trainers stolen while ice skating in 2021.

Police do not patrol the event itself, but they do operate around the park outside.

Emily has now warned people visiting Winter Wonderland to be extra vigilant, and to not take their phone out anywhere that may be vulnerable to thieves.

She said: ‘I feel really s***, depressed and just sad. It is one the scariest things that has ever happened to me in my whole life.

‘I’ve never had anything stolen from me before, and I feel like a phone is the worst possible thing, especially as it was brand new.

‘People need to be careful. If you are going to Winter Wonderland or anywhere around that area do not have your phone out or in your back pocket.

‘When I went down to the nearest tube station, I saw a woman who was crying her eyes out with her husband because her phone had also just been snatched in the exact same spot as me.’

Winter Wonderland and the Metropolitan Police have been contacted for comment.

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