Balaclava-clad moped thugs armed with '18-inch machete' steal councillor's watch

Above: CCTV shows the moment moped attackers armed with a machete confronted a man and his fiancée on a London street

A Conservative councillor and his fiancée were ambushed by two moped riders armed with a machete who stole his watch.

Andrew Dinsmore was confronted with what he described as an '18 inch blade' as he walked along Old Church Street in Chelsea.

CCTV footage shows two men dressed in black ride up to Mr Dinsmore before waving a knife in his face.

"It all happened very quickly, in the moment the mind goes slightly blank and you're trying to figure out what's going on," Mr Dinsmore told ITV News London.

"You're trying to de-escalate things, you want to just make sure this is over as quickly as possible.

"If someone's got a machete they're already quite psyched up, so if you say or do the wrong thing you could end up losing your life.

"The size of the blade he produced, we're talking about an 18 inch machete," he added.

Mr Dinsmore said he was shocked to discover machetes could easily be bought online and he believed a change in the law was urgently needed.

"If you go online and search for a machete not only can you easily buy them but you can also buy Tomahawk Axes and a balaclava. "I think we should look at the law in this area to consider banning these weapons.

"We did this for Samurai swords. There is no legitimate commercial use for an 18 inch machete. "If you'd have done this with a gun it would be ten years in prison - if you do it with a machete it's four years.

"Maybe we should look at whether that difference should be addressed," he explained.

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