Footage has been released of Bridgerton actor Genevieve Chenneour fighting off a thief who tried to steal her phone in London.
The 27-year-old played the gossiping Miss Clara Livingston in season three of the Netflix period romance.
She was with a friend in a Joe & the Juice coffee shop when a man, 18-year-old Zachariah Boulares, allegedly attacked her at the coffee shop in Kensington high street.
In CCTV footage of the incident, the man appeared to wait for Chenneour’s friend, Carlo Kurcishi, to leave their table to order at the till. While she turned her back to the table, he swooped in to lift the device, but the actor noticed immediately and took the thief down with the help of her friend.
Once the phone was released she used it to strike him as a crowd formed in the shop, according to the video obtained by MailOnline. The fight moved to the back of the cafe for around four minutes before the man appeared to give up, but not before pointing his finger at the actor’s face.
“They didn't expect me to stand up for myself – but I did,” she told MailOnline.
“I was left with a concussion just before the Screen Actors Guild Awards and since then, I've felt constantly on edge. Even my dog was traumatised – now, if anyone touches me, he panics and tries to protect me.”
She continued: “Getting a coffee shouldn't be something you need your wits about you for. I'm so grateful to the staff at Joe & the Juice – they were incredible during the incident and when I went back to see them after.”
Bouchares pleaded guilty to the attack, including stealing the phone and assaulting Kurcishi. He has been remanded into custody with sentencing scheduled for 17 June at Isleworth Crown Court.
More than 70, 000 phones were stolen in London in 2024, marking a 220 per cent rise in thefts from 2020.
Earlier this year, an investigation by The Independent found that masked phone-snatching gangs used 70mph e-bikes, which has fuelled a surge in mobile thefts, with more than 225 stolen on average every day across the UK.
Data obtained through Freedom of Information requests showed there were at least 83,900 phone theft offences recorded in the 12 months to July last year – almost double the 45,800 five years previously.
At the epicentre of the crimewave is London, where thefts rose to 65,600 last year.
Police told The Independent they are facing a running battle with powerful criminal gangs sending e-bike bandits into busy pedestrian areas to snatch £1,500 mobiles from unsuspecting victims.
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