Wandsworth Police

We need your help in finding 15-year-old Jana, who has gone missing from Burton-on-Trent.

Jana was last seen in the Stretton area at 5.10pm on Saturday (21 March).

She is described as being 5ft 3ins tall, of slim build with black shoulder-length curly hair.

She was last seen wearing a black shoulder-length wig, which has a bandana on it with pink writing, light grey jogging bottoms, a pink crop top with black straps, a black puffa coat and pink crocs.

She is known to frequent Birmingham and has links to the Tooting area of London and Leicestershire.

If you've seen Jana, or know of her whereabouts, please call 101 quoting incident 703 of 21 March.

Community Crime-Fighting Wandsworth

A live event in your London borough.

👮 👮‍♂️ Join your local policing team to hear about how we’re cracking down on crime in Wandsworth and have your say on local policing priorities.

When? 6pm, 14th October 2025

Where? The Arding and Hobbs rooms, 7 St John’s Rd, London SW11 1QN

RSVP at Community Crime-Fighting:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/community-crime-fighting-wandsworth-tickets-1707502117799

Man found guilty of murder in south west London

A man has been convicted of murder following a Met Police investigation that saw him arrested just 10 minutes after officers arrived.

Salah Ahmed (known as Salah Al-Mahmoodi), 22 (02.01.2003) of Laitwood Road, Balham was found guilty of murder on Wednesday, 24 September following a three-week trial at Kingston Crown Court.

The court heard that 18-year-old Issa Ali Musa Abdularaman-Baracat was stabbed by Salah, who was also his neighbour, because of a dispute about a phone.

Detective Chief Inspector, Brian Howie senior investigating officer from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command said: “This is a tragic, senseless murder and our thoughts are with Issa’s loved ones. We hope that they feel some justice that Ahmed has been found guilty.

“Due to the quick work of Met officers at the scene, Ahmed was arrested swiftly and vital evidence was gathered. My team then put together a very strong case and proved that Ahmed killed his friend on the street.

“However, Ahmed consistently lied to officers and authorities, from basic details such as his age, to denying that he had killed his friend despite the strong evidence against him. He still hasn’t given a reason as to why he murdered Issa but we believe it started over a minor dispute about a phone.

“These lies added challenges to our investigation when it came to finding out about his background, history, and piecing the events together that led to Issa’s death. But we worked closely with our partner agencies to find this information.

“This is another violent criminal who has been taken off the streets. Ahmed took a knife out into public with the intention of using it. He had no regard for his friend or other members of public in the area.

“Despite his lies, we’re pleased he has been found guilty and justice has been served.

“Violence and knife crime will never be tolerated, and we are committed to making London a safer city.”

Police were called at 06:01hrs on Monday, 28 October to reports that a man had been stabbed on Laitwood Road, Balham.

Officers arrived and paramedics from the London Ambulance Service were treating Issa at the scene. He was taken to hospital, but sadly died later that day.

An investigation was launched and less than 10 minutes after arriving, Ahmed was identified as a suspect before being arrested at the scene for attempted murder.

Minutes later, a kitchen knife was discovered outside a nearby flat which would turn out to be the murder weapon.

The court heard how both Salah and Issa were neighbours and friends who lived in the same building in Laitwood Road, Balham.

They were seen together in the early hours of 28 October, with Issa visiting Ahmed’s room just after 02:00hrs.

At 05:09hrs, CCTV showed Issa going back to his own room. Ahmed then retrieved the murder weapon from the kitchen area before heading towards Issa’s room.

An altercation took place between the pair which spilled outside onto the road before Ahmed stabbed Issa.

As Issa collapsed on the road, Ahmed fled the scene to dispose of the murder weapon. He returned shortly after and proceeded to record a video and take photographs on his phone with Issa dying in the background.

The emergency services had been called during this time and a member of the public assisted Issa until paramedics arrived.

Ahmed remained in the area, even filming the paramedics as they treated Issa, before officers arrived and arrested him.

After Issa died later that day, Ahmed was then re-arrested for murder while still in custody and charged with murder on 29 October.

He will be sentenced on Thursday, 25 September.

Met police drive down theft and robbery by 84% in Battersea and Nine Elms

Following a targeted operation in south west London, Met officers have focussed resources on hotspots to tackle theft and robbery, resulting in an 84 per cent decrease over three months.

As part of the Home Office’s Safer Summer Streets campaign, on Wednesday, 27 August, Met officers arrested six members of an organised phone snatching gang between the ages of 17 and 19 years old, as part of an intelligence-led operation in response to concerns raised by the local community around the issue.

Officers carried out warrants at seven addresses targeting individuals believed to be involved in dozens of phone thefts and robberies in the area for over a year, seizing several suspected stolen handsets, a motorbike, a Rambo knife and drugs.

The operation, known as ‘Roar’, has involved more than 90 officers and local partners like such local council anti-social behaviour officers since its introduction in May 2025 and comes as the Met intensifies its street operations targeting phone thieves and deploys more officers on high-speed e-bikes to catch them.

Across the operation to date, through a combination of pre-planned warrants, patrols and covert police tactics, officers have made a total of 20 arrests, including seven members of another organised group of phone snatchers operating in the Brixton, Lambeth, Stockwell and Wandsworth areas.

This has resulted in crime dropping in each area by:

*Robbery by ward:

Nine Elms – 72% reduction
Battersea Park – 46% reduction
Shaftesbury and Queens Town – 45% reduction
Sn**ch thefts by ward:

Nine Elms – 36% reduction
Battersea Park – 31% reduction
Shaftesbury and Queens Town – 32% reduction
Inspector Rich Nuttall, from the Met Police who leads neighbourhood policing in Battersea, said:

“We are proactively targeting crime that matters most to the people of Battersea and Nine Elms. This latest wave of activity is part of our relentless and continued crackdown on phone snatchers in the area – going after the perpetrators who continually target our local communities on an almost daily basis.

“Thanks to the hard work of officers, we’ve been able to arrest six more individuals linked to numerous phone theft offences, with an extensive investigation now underway to bring charges and convictions against them.

“Operations such as this play a crucial role in helping us remove dangerous criminals from our streets whose offending brings misery and fear to those we serve, and I hope this latest action provides further reassurance that we are coming down hard on phone thieves.”

Town centres and hotspot areas across London continue to see an enhanced police presence as part of the Home Office’s Safer Summer Streets campaign running until the end of September, with a focus on reducing criminality and anti-social behaviour.

This intensified action is part of ongoing work by the Met and Mayor of London to boost local neighbourhood teams, enhance partnership working and put high-visibility policing at the heart of fighting crime and rebuilding trust.

Between 30 June and 10 August, there were 1,376 arrests in the 20 hotspot areas across London – up by a third compared to the same period last year. The number of cases solved is up 176 per cent.

Details of those arrested:

A 19-year-old man from Hammersmith and Fulham
A 19-year-old man from Brixton
A 19-year-old man from Nine Elms
An 18-year-old and 17-year-old from Stockwell.
All five have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit theft and on suspicion of fraud.

A 19-year-old man from Wandsworth also arrested as part of this investigation was detained for possession of a bladed article and possession of cannabis alongside the offences above.

All six men have been bailed until Tuesday, 25 November. Court dates are yet to be confirmed.

| Robert, who we shared as missing, has been found safe and well. Thank you to all that shared and helped!

🌞CRIME PREVENTION | HOT WEATHER EDITION ☀️

🔥 Temps are high today, stay cool & stay safe!

Quick reminders:
🔒 Lock doors/windows, even if you’re just in the garden
💎 Don’t leave valuables on display
🐶 That “quick errand” is too long for your pet to stay in the car

Stay cool. Stay alert.

| Sulaiman, who we shared as missing, has been found safe and well.
Thank you to all that shared and helped.

| We have launched our brand-new service called Met Engage. Sign up today to receive updates from your local police officers on the issues that matter most to you.

To sign up today visit 👉 www.metengage.co.uk

Met Engage is not a crime-reporting platform. If you wish to report a crime you can call 101 or through our report a crime section of the Met website. If it is an emergency, dial 999.

| Detectives are appealing for witnesses to an assault in York Gardens, Battersea, SW11 where a white male was seriously assaulted by an unknown suspect on the 11th July 2025 at 1800hrs.

If you saw this incident or have any information that could assist the investigation, please contact DC Ware on 07741685374.

Police officer, father, parkrunner: Inspector Steve Burke's parkrun journey

Wandsworth Police have been working in partnership with Parkrun to promote personal safety and increase police presence in the community.

The initiative was lead by Inspector Steve Burke and you can read about his personal journey with parkrun and how the initiative began below.

Policeman, father, parkrunner: Steve's parkrun journey | parkrun UK Blog Steve Burke, an Inspector for Wandsworth MPS, is an avid parkrunner who discovered parkrun at a challenging time of life and benefitted from the power of communal physical activity.   Steve shares how parkrun has shaped his life and his goals for the future of Wandsworth police…   “Running tea...