Police charge 14-year-old for seven thefts in the space of an hour as he rode round on moped

13 mobile phones recovered, nine of which have been returned to owners

The boy was charged in connection with a series of thefts carried out by a moped rider and pillion passenger (Rex)

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with carrying out seven robberies in the space of an hour as he rode as a pillion passenger on a moped around north London.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is alleged to have targetted people in across the borough of Haringey

Officers later identified two suspects riding on a moped and managed to detaining the pillion passenger before the rider made a getaway.

Police recovered 13 mobile phones from the youth, nine of which have been identified and returned to their owners.

The boy, from Tottenham was charged with seven counts of robbery.

London has seen a spike in the number of offences committed by criminals using mopeds in recent years.

More than 23,000 crimes were carried out across the capital by offenders on mopeds in 2017, compared to just 827 in 2012.

Figures last month showed more than 40 per cent of such crimes were carried out in just two boroughs – Camden and Islington.

On Monday, comedian Michael McIntyre was robbed by two armed men and riding a moped as he sat in his car waiting to pick his children up from school in Golders Green, north London.