{"id":349423,"date":"2025-08-16T15:09:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T15:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/349423\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T15:09:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T15:09:21","slug":"broadcaster-selina-scott-says-she-blames-sadiq-khan-for-her-mugging-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/349423\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadcaster Selina Scott says she blames Sadiq Khan for her mugging"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 huxBsk\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p>Broadcaster Selina Scott has said she blames the mayor of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/london\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">London<\/a> for her mugging by a gang in London\u2019s West End.<\/p>\n<p>The 74-year-old revealed that in June she was surrounded near Waterstones on Piccadilly by a group of thieves who hit her on the back of the leg and stole her purse.<\/p>\n<p>She received an apology from the head of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/metropolitan-police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Metropolitan Police<\/a> Sir <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/mark-rowley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Rowley<\/a> after she said she could not find an officer to report the crime to, in an interview with the Telegraph saying she blames Sir <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/sadiq-khan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sadiq Khan<\/a> for the incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI actually blame the mayor of London,\u201d Scott told the newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore than I blame the police, actually, because the mayor of London took on the job to keep the people of London safe, the police come under him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recounting the incident, she said she ran from Piccadilly to Leicester Square without finding a police officer, despite seeing \u201call kinds of security officers\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The nearby West End Central police station was closed four years ago and the day after the mugging officers failed to go to her home for a planned appointment because there was no available police car.<\/p>\n<p>In June, Sir Mark admitted on Nick Ferrari\u2019s show on LBC that the force could have given the broadcaster a better service.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can feel for her. She\u2019s obviously very upset. She\u2019s a 70-odd-year-old lady who had a very frightening experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe officers weren\u2019t able to give the service that we would expect on that day. I\u2019m sorry about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scott said she had to walk miles home after the attack as the gang had taken her money.<\/p>\n<p>She said: \u201cI would say to anyone walking through central London, put 20 quid in your shoe or down a sock or in your knickers or somewhere, because the worst thing was not having any money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m fairly fit, so I could walk, but I did try to get on a bus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the attack, she told LBC she felt \u201chumiliated and angry\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>She added: \u201cBut most of all (I\u2019m feeling) fearful for all those who are listening to Nick\u2019s show and feel that they can walk the streets of London safely, because I\u2019m telling you, they can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverywhere you go there is security for well-known people, the royal family have security,\u201d she told the Telegraph.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mayor of London has security. So what\u2019s different? Why doesn\u2019t the public have security? Why don\u2019t I get it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A spokeswoman for the mayor of London said: \u201cNothing is more important to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/mayor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mayor<\/a> than keeping Londoners safe. Sadiq is determined to do all he can to tackle crime and its complex causes, and build on progress that has been achieved in London, with the number of young people being injured with a knife down 26%, homicides down 17%, gun crime with lethal barrel discharges down 43% and burglary down 27% since 2016.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Mayor has doubled his annual investment in the Met Police from City Hall and will continue to invest record amounts in policing, as we know there is more to do. That is why, with City Hall funding, the West End will see a 50% increase in the number of police officers on the beat and an additional 90 police officers working in new or enhanced town centre teams in hotspot areas. These officers will focus on tackling shoplifting, anti-social behaviour and phone robbery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-349423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115039080520666000","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}