These are the dramatic scenes as a pair of criminals, part of a south London gang, snatch a woman's mobile phone while she walked along a busy street. <br />The footage is captured by a cyclist who is riding along the road outside Lambeth College in south London. <br />The woman is talking on her smartphone when the men spot her. They perform a highly-illegal u-turn before mounting the pavement. The pillion passenger twists his body as the moped pulls up beside the stunned woman and wrenches the handset from her grasp. <br /> <br />The cyclist turns his head to continue filming the brazen theft, which was one of a growing number of similar crimes where gangs use speed to snatch high value items such as mobile phones, handbags and items of jewellery. <br />The Metropolitan Police has issued an urgent warning to members of the public to make them aware of this type of crime. <br /> <br />The Met and the City of London police have deployed vehicles with automatic number plate recognition systems to identify stolen mopeds which are used in such attacks. <br />They have just released dramatic new footage of the theft outside Lambeth College on July 31, 2013. <br />Courtney Morgan and Walid Hnida saw their victim and ruthlessly targeted her for her mobile. <br />Detectives discovered that Morgan and Hnida formed part of an organised criminal network. <br /> <br />The gang targeted mostly women during their crime spree, including one who was heavily pregnant. <br />They operated across Wandsworth, Lambeth, Richmond upon Thames and Hammersmith and Fulham in south and west London. <br />One woman was punched in the face and another was dragged along the pavement as she tried to keep hold of her phone which was eventually stolen. <br />Another woman was pulled onto the hot exhaust of the bike and her leg was so badly burnt she needed hospital treatment. <br />Officers believe that during the spate of thefts, the gang managed to steal phones and other electronics worth an estimated £120,000.
