Today on This Morning, Bridgerton actress Genevieve Chenneour joined Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley…
The performer spoke to ITV about the moment she bravely fought back against a phone thief in central London. After shocking CCTV footage captured the moment she confronted the thief who tried to take her phone in a coffee shop, Genevieve said the moment happened in milliseconds:
“I had a bit of a sixth sense that something wasn’t quite right, as woman you have that kind of intuition and I could feel people moving around me in a different way but I only became aware of it once the incident had happened.”
“I did feel they were going back and forth trying to find a target, so they chose me.”
Deciding in the moment to confront the thief to get her phone back, Genevieve says she wouldn’t advise anyone else to do this: “I don’t know if I would advise anybody else to do it, I think I have very quick reactions, thanks to having three brothers growing up and I’m an aviated carded boxer.
“I think it just was an instinct, I also do a lot of fight training for work and acting… I thought that was a normal reaction and I read all the comments [from the CCTV footage] and realised, actually a lot of people would just let them take the phone.”
Genevieve explained how the altercation ended up escalating and revealed she was threatened to be stabbed: “It became a real matter, in my mind, life and death. So, I did things like, I remember kicking him back with my leg to create space in case he had a weapon on him… It was just a life changing, crazy moment.”
Further information has since been released on the thief, who has previously been caught in footage with a machete and was previously detained after robbing singer and radio presenter, Aled Jones.
Explaining how the situation has affected her emotionally and how she was left afraid to leave her home, Genevieve said: “It opened up so many conversations with people that I know and don’t know and I’ve been really made aware of how many people are living with that anxiety, men that have had their phone stolen and women. I can only talk from a woman’s perspective but I do know that men are dealing with that same level of anxiety.”
“I didn’t want to go outside. I mean as a woman we already, I think, have our wits about us around strangers and random men. So, to have this happen to me while dealing with that base level that a lot of women have, just made me quite agoraphobic. Leaving the house was really hard.”
Genevieve later explained how she is now taking a break from London after the incident: “I’ve actually taken a bit of a break from London… I’ve been here for seven years, working, auditioning, acting, just to kind of have a bit of a reset because it really did affect my confidence.
“Going out the first time [after the incident], I remember standing in a queue and just my hands were sweating, and I was so vigilant and aware of my surroundings. So yeah, just kind of trying to feel calmer.”
WIth mobile phone theft on the rise, former Chief Superintendent Parm Sandu also joined the sofa next to Genevieve, pleading for people to not fight back: “Genevieve was very brave and I commend her for that but I would not recommend anybody, anybody fights back. It just isn’t worth it.”
“You don’t expect it to happen to you but unfortunately, as you say, it’s happening to more and more people and we all need to not take responsibility, but we need to protect ourselves and make sure that we are not the next target.”
“Where you can get your mobile phones with a cover with a little strap on, really, really effective because if you’ve got a strap around your wrist as well, it’s harder for them to snatch it and run.”
Parma also encouraged viewers to contact the police as a report will make that area a hotspot for phone theft: “People will know that that’s where the mobile phone theft is prevalent and resources from police can be allocated to that area and they may be undercover… It will create a reaction from the local police.”
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV, ITVX, STV and STV Player
