Rosamund Pike has revealed she was punched in the face and had her mobile phone snatched violently out of her hand by a ‘mugger’ on a bicycle.
The James Bond and Gone Girl star, 46, spoke of her ’15 minutes’ of hell when she was targeted by the thief in 2006 as she spoke to her mother while walking down the street.
She said she screamed in terror and her mum, Caroline Friend, was left fearing the worst until she was able to call her back on another phone.
Rosamund, who starred with Piers Brosnan in Die Another Day (2002), told Magic Radio: ‘I was on the phone to my mother — on a mobile phone walking along a road — and I was mugged.
‘The phone was snatched so all she heard was me scream and a thud and the phone went dead.’
She said the ‘mugger’ was a kid who sped past her on a bicycle and punched her down the side of her cheek.
Rosamund, who was born in London, said the thief took her mobile phone and left her with a bruise on her face.
The actress is one of a number of celebs who have fallen victim to the terrifying trend of phone snatching that is sweeping London.
Former tennis star Annabel Croft said her mobile was stolen ‘clean out of her hands’ while she waited for a taxi outside London King’s Cross station in June last year.
Ms Croft wrote on Instagram: ‘I just wanted to warn people who are on their own in London. I just got mugged waiting for a taxi outside King’s Cross St Pancreas.
‘The man was riding a bike and wearing a black balaclava. He rode straight at me and took my phone clean out of my hands.
‘He rode away with it but luckily dropped my phone so I got it back. Terrifying!’
Meanwhile, TV presenter Kym Marsh also had her phone swiped from her hand on a London street in March.
Speaking to her co-host Gethin Jones on BBC’s Morning Live, she said: ‘It is quite a scary thing to happen to you, you’re walking down a road and then all of a sudden something’s taken out of your hand.
‘And that was about a fortnight ago that was taken from me. But thankfully I was okay.’
London is in the grips of a terrifying spate of phone snatchings where e-bike crooks use high-powered vehicles to steal the devices and make quick getaways.
Figures have shown that a mobile phone is reported as stolen in London every six minutes.
More than 70,000 mobiles were stolen in the capital last year with criminals using violence and distraction techniques to target victims.
In 2023, the worst-hit borough was the City of Westminster, where tourists flock for theatre shows and high-end shopping, with 18,863 reported incidents in 2023.
Camden was the second worst affected, with 4,806 incidents, followed by Southwark (4,376), Hackney (2,761), Newham (2,585), Lambeth (2,394) and Islington (2,117).
Shocking videos show muggers swerving alongside pedestrians before grabbing their phones and making off with them at speed.
One thief who was recently brought to justice stole 24 phones in one morning.
But in recent months, ‘various operations’ deployed by the police force involving monitoring CCTV footage, increasing officers’ awareness and ’employing’ traffic units and surge teams have brought about a decrease in phone theft.
A 27 per cent decrease was recorded in November last year while, in an even more promising statistic, a 43 per cent decrease was achieved the following month.
Despite such successes, however, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, affirmed that there is ‘more to do.’
‘As the criminal demand for high-value mobile phones continues to grow globally, the Mayor and I are clear that companies must go further and faster to make it harder for stolen phones to be sold on, repurposed and re-used illegally,’ she said.
‘We’ll continue to work with leading mobile phone companies, the Home Secretary and Met leaders to find innovative solutions to end the scourge of mobile phone crime.
‘The success in tackling phone thefts comes after the Met moved out of special measures last month, following major improvements in many areas of service to London.
‘These include responding more quickly to emergencies and strengthening neighbourhood policing to better respond to communities’ concerns, including tackling theft and robberies.
‘The Met is urging anyone who has lost or had stolen a phone to use the national mobile phone register so recovered handsets can be restored, via The Police National Mobile Property Register.’
has contacted Rosamund’s representatives for comment.