This is the moment two sneaky bag thieves swiped a punter’s handbag from right under her nose in a packed pub.

CCTV captured the chillingly slick theft as a group sat eating and drinking, blissfully unaware they were being targeted. 

In the footage, Mohammed Kraifa can be seen sliding his leg beneath the table to hook the strap, before accomplice Hecham Bourhar leans in, masked by his partner, and lifts the bag in one smooth motion.

Seconds later, the pair stroll out of the bar as if nothing happened, carrying a haul worth £2,000, including a laptop and personal items.

Kraifa, 34, and Bourhar, 29, have now been jailed for 18 weeks for the theft, the Sun reports. 

Bourhar was hit with an additional eight weeks for breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from the City of London, although the sentence will run concurrently.

City of London Police said the incident happened at a pub on New Street, close to Liverpool Street station.

CCTV captured the chillingly slick theft as a group sat eating and drinking, blissfully unaware they were being targeted.

In the footage, Mohammed Kraifa can be seen sliding his leg beneath the table to hook the strap

Accomplice Hecham Bourhar leans in, masked by his partner, and lifts the bag in one smooth motion before the pair walk out 

Sergeant James Wood, of the Proactive Acquisitive Crime Team, said: ‘By using all our resources in tracking down bag thieves, we have already made significant arrests which have led to a number of successful prosecutions.

‘This is another great result, with two bag thieves behind bars.

‘Our dedicated officers are working tirelessly to identify and apprehend individuals who target those who live, work and visit the Square Mile.’

It comes amid shocking reports of crime in the city with locals and tourists alike targeted by phone snatchers and gangs of thieves.

In 2024 alone, 117,211 mobile phones were reported stolen in the capital, according to Met Police figures, the equivalent of 320 every day.

The thieves typically target people at random in the street while on bikes or mopeds, often mounting the pavement and snatching devices out of victims’ hands before they have even realised what has happened.

Once taken, the devices are commonly shipped aboard to be stripped for parts.

Other gangs of so-called ‘Rolex rippers’ target individuals for their high-end watches.

Some 5,180 timepieces worth more than £3,000 were snatched in the capital between January 2022 and July 2025, but only 59 were found – just one in 88.

One of the most high-profile incidents in recent years was the gunpoint robbery of a £70,000 diamond-encrusted watch from former world boxing champion Amir Khan.

The Olympic silver medallist was targeted as he and his wife Faryal Makhdoom left the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, East London, on a night in April 2022.