Smash-and-Grab Rampage Fuelled by Foreign Buyers With Taste for Gold
22nd February 2026
Down a pedestrianised alleyway in an affluent London suburb, as residents enjoyed their morning coffees, two men walked up to a family-run jewellers and smashed a sledgehammer into the front window.
Within 60 seconds, they had accessed the rows of jewellery on display in Gregory & Co, throwing handfuls of silver and gold into a bag as bewildered staff, who hadonly recently opened up, tried to save what they could.
The attack in Richmond upon Thames was one of a string of “smash and grabs” that have taken place across London in recent months. The Metropolitan Police says the “spike” is down to rising prices of precious metals, as well as a strong second-hand market for designer goods, particularly in Dubai.
In America, that would get you shot. But Britain banned personal firearms long ago.