A police car was out of action for five days after a 21-year-old man kicked its wing mirror off outside Bishopsgate Police Station in a display of what officers described as “incredibly childish behaviour.”
The marked patrol vehicle was taken off the road in the early hours of 3 May 2026 after Adam Bachir-Belmehdi, of no fixed address, caused damage that rendered it unusable for nearly a week. The unavailability of the car meant officers were without one of their frontline response vehicles during that period, a gap that police said could have had a detrimental impact on their ability to answer emergency 999 calls.
Footage from the City of London Police’s CCTV network — described by the force as one of the most advanced policing assets in the country — captured the sequence of events in real time. The feed was monitored directly from the force’s control room. Bachir-Belmehdi was seen approaching the parked police car and initially lying across the bonnet and windscreen while a friend took photographs with a mobile phone. He then placed a takeaway meal on the bonnet and began eating it. Moments later, he kicked the side of the vehicle before turning his attention to the wing mirror, which he kicked twice, ultimately ripping it from the car.
Officers were dispatched from the station within seconds of the damage being caused. Bachir-Belmehdi fled but was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with criminal damage.
Court hearing
At Westminster Magistrates Court on 18 May 2026, Bachir-Belmehdi was fined £480 and ordered to pay costs totalling £957. The court heard that the damage had taken a marked police vehicle off the road for five consecutive days.
Impact on operations
Police Constable Oliver Gage, who attended the incident, said the behaviour was “completely unnecessary” and had direct consequences for the force’s operational readiness. “As a result of his actions, officers were without one of our vehicles for a number of days,” he said. “We do not tolerate this sort of behaviour in the City of London and we want to make it clear that anyone who behaves in this manner will face justice.”
