EXCLUSIVE: The Express witnessed begging gang members ignore police ordering them to leave a makeshift ‘camp’
Migrant camp of ‘professional beggars’ returns to London
Police cleared an organised Romanian begging gang from their makeshift home near a London landmark – only for them to return 10 minutes later. About 20 members of the group were told by police to vacate ground near Marble Arch or risk their possessions being seized during an operation on Tuesday (July 14).
The east European gang pitched up on a patch of grass on the corner of Oxford Street and Park Lane in a makeshift shanty town in the shadow of the iconic white arch. Members of the same gang pitched tents on a patch of grass in Park Lane last year, just a stone’s throw from luxury hotels, including the Hilton and The Dorchester.
That camp, in a part of the capital dubbed “billionaires’ row”, saw Met Police officers carry out welfare checks on the inhabitants, prompting some to accuse the authorities of being a “soft touch”.
Officers from the Met Police ordered gang members off the patch of ground after complaints (Image: Jeremy Selwyn)
Police swoop on the migrants at Marble Arch (Image: Jeremy Selwyn)
The group moved off but were back within minutes of the police leaving (Image: Jeremy Selwyn)
When this publication visited the gang’s current site, about a dozen beggars were lounging around, smoking and sleeping under the shade of a London plane tree.
But the calm was interrupted when about half a dozen officers descended on the group, forcing them to move off the parched, litter-strewn ground.
The Express saw them trundling trollies filled with bulging black bin bags to benches on the other side of the site, where they waited for the police to leave.
Within 10 minutes, two women had returned, placing cardboard on the ground, then lying down to relax after their rest was disturbed.
It is understood that the police visited the site after complaints from locals. Members of the group have been seen urinating in public, drinking alcohol and engaging in street gambling.
Businesses in the area have also reported gang members shoplifting from stores and following customers around aisles looking for opportunities to pick their pockets.
The group beds down outside M&S in Oxford Street before moving to nearby Marble Arch (Image: Jeremy Selwyn)
A man uses Marble Arch as a toilet (Image: Jeremy Selwyn)
Workers in Oxford Street have told the Mail that the group flies to the UK from Romania every year to coincide with the tourist season and for Winter Wonderland in nearby Hyde Park.
The ringleader of the gang is believed to be a man called Iliuta Gruia, who has been the focus of an Express investigation.
Gruia was pictured at the site on Monday (July 13), watching on as money changed hands during a card game.
He first came to the Express’s attention when he lashed out at our investigations editor, Zak Garner-Purkis, on a visit to the former Park Lane camp.
An axe-wielding thug, Gruia was exposed as a violent Romanian criminal who was given a restraining order for threatening to kill children.
The gang leader was not at the site on Tuesday and those who were there denied knowing him despite his being photographed among the group less than 24 hours earlier.
Cllr David Harvey, cabinet member for housing and regeneration at Westminster Council, said: “We continue to encourage those at the site to relocate and move away from rough sleeping and offer support for them to do that.
“Where that help is persistently declined — and the individuals involved cause anti-social behaviour and unlawfully occupy these spaces — we will take appropriate enforcement action. Westminster’s streets, parks and public spaces need to be safe, accessible and welcoming for everyone.”
The Metropolitan Police was approached for comment.