Man arrested over theft of phone belonging to Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff

A man has been arrested in south London over the theft of a phone that belonged to Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.

The incident last October drew attention earlier this year when the government promised to publish all messages from ministers and officials relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US.

Many of the Whatsapp messages from McSweeney – a key figure in that decision – will not be included in the release due to the loss of the device.

A 28-year-old has now been arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, though the phone itself has not been located.

McSweeney, then working as Starmer’s top advisor, called 999 after the official phone was snatched by a man riding a bicycle on a road in Pimlico.

Confusion on the call led to police recording the wrong address for the crime, and the case was closed after McSweeney was given a reference number.

The investigation was later reopened after the Sun on Sunday revealed details of the incident, with the Met also taking the unusual step of releasing a transcript of the 999 call, which you can read below.

Speaking to the Foreign Affairs Committee last month, McSweeney said he had tried to chase the thief before calling No 10, adding he ‘would have gone with whatever they told [him] to do’.

Asked why he didn’t disclose his top role on Downing Street while speaking to the 999 operator, he said: ‘If No 10 had told me you need to tell the police or you need to tell the call handler what your job is, I would have done so.

‘But otherwise, I didn’t do that as a matter of course. I didn’t in any part of my job go around saying, “I’m a very serious and senior person.”‘

A spokesperson for the Met said: ‘Officers investigating the theft of a mobile phone in Belgrave Road, Pimlico on 20 October 2025 have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of handling stolen goods.

‘The arrest took place on Wednesday, 29 April at an address in Peckham. The man was taken into police custody and later bailed.

‘He is suspected of receiving the phone after it was stolen and then selling it on. He is not suspected of any involvement in the original theft.

‘The phone has not been recovered.’

The full transcript of the 999 call

Call handler: Police, what’s your emergency?

McSweeney: Oh, hello, someone just robbed my phone.

Call handler: Did they actually take it from you just now?

McSweeney: Yeah

Call handler: How did they get away?

McSweeney: So he’s on a bike. He’s come onto the pavement to grab my phone and cycled off on a bike.

Call handler: And where did this happen?

McSweeney: It happened in Belgrave Street* in Westminster.

*We now know that the incident took place in Belgrave Road, Westminster. The call handler inputs Belgrave Street and it provides a matching road name in Tower Hamlets, which is what is recorded in error. There are further references to locations near to Belgrave Street in Tower Hamlets later in the call, which compounds the issue.

Call handler: And whose phone are you using now?

McSweeney: I’ve got two phones. I’m using my personal one. That was my work one.

Call handler: Can I take the phone number for this phone you’re calling on?

McSweeney: Yeah, 07XXXXXXXXX.

Call handler: Thank you. And you said Belgrave Street, yeah?

McSweeney: Yeah, just kind of going back to the location.

Call handler: Don’t put yourself at any risk. It’s not worth it over a phone. I appreciate it’s frustrating.

Call handler: And which way did they go towards, this suspect on a bike?

McSweeney: He went. He travels north. I saw him for a few blocks.

Call handler: So where were you when you last saw him? Have you got any idea?

McSweeney: Yeah, so.

Call handler: Did you get up to Stepney?

McSweeney: Let me tell you where I got to. I’m just going back to where I can.

McSweeney: So he turned right. Sorry, he turned left. There’s a park on top of the road and he turned left there.

Call handler: Stepney Green Park, ok.

McSweeney: Yeah. He turned left there.

Call handler: Can you remember anything about his appearance?

McSweeney: Yeah, he was young. He was a black guy. He was on a bike.

Call handler: About how young?

Call handler: Just a guess.

McSweeney: Teens. Late teens.

Call handler: Was he skinny, tall, any idea?

McSweeney: Yeah. He was slim. He was about average height.

Call handler: Was it an e bike or pedal bike?

McSweeney: Pedal bike.

Call handler: Have you got a tracker on the phone at all?

McSweeney: I do. It’s a government phone.

Call handler: And it’s your work phone. What kind of phone is it?

McSweeney: It’s an iPhone.

Call handler: Do you know what model?

McSweeney: I don’t.

[PAUSE]

Call handler: Right, just bear with me a second.

Call handler: We would normally deploy to see you but at the moment, we are having extreme demand on police officers. So, I don’t know if you would prefer to make your way home and make a crime report over the phone or online tomorrow. I mean, I can complete one with you now. I can pass this down, you can wait, but I honestly do not know how long you’ll be waiting,

McSweeney: If I could complete it now that would be good.

Call handler: Ok.

Call handler: What’s your name, please?

McSweeney: My name is XXXXXXXXXX.

Call handler: XXXXXXXXXX? (repeats name back)

McSweeney: Yeah.

Call handler: And your date of birth, please?

McSweeney: It’s XXXXXX

Call handler: Is XXXXXXXXX (surname) all one word?

McSweeney: Yeah, (spells surname).

Call handler: And what’s your home address?

McSweeney: (Provides non-London address)

Call handler: So you live in XXXXXX?

McSweeney: Yeah.

Call handler: Are you staying anywhere while you’re in London?

McSweeney: Yeah.

Call handler: Sorry, it just takes a little bit longer to deal with an address outside of the Met. I do apologise.

McSweeney: It’s ok.

Call handler: And may I take an email for you please (name)?

McSweeney: Yeah, it’s XXXXXXXXXXX@XXXXXXXXXX.com (personal email address)

Call handler: You’ll get a copy of the preliminary crime report through to that email.

Call handler: How would you like to be contacted by an investigating officer? By email or phone?

McSweeney: Phone, please. Or either, I’m not fussed.

Call handler: Have you got any finance apps on the phone?

McSweeney: No.

Call handler: You’ll need to change any passwords for any logins you do have on the phone.

McSweeney: Yeah, okay.

Call handler: You’re not vulnerable in any way. Are you?

McSweeney: No I’m not.

Call handler: Do you believe there was any CCTV near where the incident happened?

McSweeney: Might be. [Inaudible] away from location.

Call handler: Don’t worry. Don’t return. No, I’ll just put at the moment unknown. And obviously, if we find out more, we find out more.

Call handler: Are you willing to make a statement to support the investigation?

McSweeney: Definitely.

Call handler: So what time did he actually snatch the phone?

McSweeney: About two minutes before I rung you and I chased, and then I rang my office to get the phone tracked and then I rang you.

Call handler: Okay, cool. It would have been about 25 past that you were robbed.

McSweeney: A little before, about 23 minutes past, I think.

Call handler: 23? Little bit before? Okay.

[PAUSE]

Call handler: Just bear with me, I’m just trying to get this system to accept the address. Sorry about this. I won’t keep you much longer.

Call handler: If you do get any tracking updates, what you do is you give us call back if the phone is stationary.

McSweeney: Yeah.

Call handler: And we can review attending then. We can’t guarantee attending a moving phone at all, but if it’s been stationary for a few…

Call handler: It’s not accepting your address.

McSweeney: I can give you my London address?

Call handler: It’s alright. I’ve nearly got this to work.

McSweeney: Okay

Call handler: How long you staying in London?

McSweeney: So I come to London every week. I work in London.

Call handler: Oh, I see. Okay, that makes sense.

McSweeney: So I’ll be here till Thursday.

Call handler: Okay.

[PAUSE]

Call handler: As I was trying to say, I’ve got this sorted now, so I’ll be texting you a crime reference number in the next few moments. Along with the crime reference number will be a CHS reference number. If you need to give us a call back, you can call back giving that reference number from any device, and then we’ll be able to link it straight away to your crime report and review deploying. We will need to know a bit more details about the phone itself, so when you’re contacted by the investigating officer, or if you do get tracking details, you can call us back with the IMEI number, and the type of phone that it is that would be super helpful.

McSweeney: All right, thank you.

Call handler: All right, I’m just about to text you through the crime reference number now.

McSweeney: Thank you so much. You’ve been really helpful.

Call handler: No worries. All right, (name). You take care now, okay? Bye.

McSweeney: Bye bye.

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