Loose Women star Charlene White was left shaken and left wishing she'd done more, after being caught up in alarming 'crime scare' on her way to work, when she came face to face with two young criminals just moments before they targeted their victim.
Charlene was at the head of the panel as the ITV lunchtime show aired its fourth show of the week on Thursday, taking on presenting duties as she was joined by Linda Robson, Joanna Page and Katie Piper. Right at the start of the show, Charlene spoke about calls to bans balaclavas and ski masks in all public places, following similar actions by shopping centres across the country.
Before going to her Loose Women colleagues for their opinions, the host and ITN newsreader said that reading about the potential ban really 'resonated' with her, due to something that happened to her earlier in the week. She explained that she was heading to London's Waterloo Station on her way to ITV, when she saw took young men coming towards her on bikes, both wearing balaclavas.
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She explained: "Living in London, loads of cyclists do wear balaclavas to protect them from the cold air, but it's very rare to see it on younger cyclists, so I thought 'something doesn't seem right' and I'm annoyed with myself, because I said it doesn't seem right because I know what they're about to do - the likelihood is that they're going to try and steal someone's phone.
Charlene continued: "I was like 'I need to take picture' but didn't. They turned the corner and about 20 seconds later I heard a woman scream and they had stolen her phone. So yeah, when it comes to balaclavas lots of people wear them, of course, they do, but I had a sense; because when you live in London you understand the level of mobile phone theft and the frequency in which it happens, so I knew something was going to happen from what I was seeing."
The presenter, who quickly called police after the theft, ended: "I just feel really bad I didn't take a picture to be honest," as co-star Katie told her: "Don't feel bad, it happens in seconds. So by the time you've got your phone out, unlocked it and taken the picture....and they'll have CCTV on the street, so don't blame yourself."
