Violent Tube phone robber Fabian Pawlowski jailed for four and a half years after terrorising London Underground passengers

Published 21 October 2026, 18:19

• Pawlowski prowled the London Underground network, singling out passengers and violently snatching their mobile phones.
• Detectives from British Transport Police hunted him down over the spate of attacks across multiple Tube stations.
• The serial robber is now behind bars, off the network where he preyed on commuters.

A serial robber who prowled the London Underground network violently snatching mobile phones from passengers has been jailed for four and a half years.

Fabian Pawlowski committed a spate of violent robberies against travellers on the Tube in London, deliberately singling out victims in order to steal the phones they were carrying.

"Fabian Pawlowski is a violent robber who targeted victims for their phones across the London Underground network," British Transport Police said in a post on its official X account, @BTP.

"Now, he's behind bars for four-and-half-years following an investigation by our detectives," the post continued.

Pawlowski's offending was not confined to a single station.

He struck at locations across the Underground system, carrying out a cluster of repeat attacks against passengers throughout the network.

The robberies were violent in nature rather than opportunistic pickpocketing, with victims targeted specifically for their mobile phones, according to the @BTP post.

Detectives from British Transport Police, the force responsible for policing the rail and Tube network, carried out the investigation that tracked him down over the series of attacks.

That detective-led inquiry ultimately resulted in his conviction and the custodial sentence handed down by the court.

The four-and-a-half-year prison term means Pawlowski is now off the network where he preyed on commuters and behind bars for the string of offences.

The sentencing was publicised on the force's X account, with the announcement accompanied by video footage relating to the investigation.

The post also linked to a fuller account of the court result on the British Transport Police website, published under the headline "Man jailed for spate of violent robberies on Tube network – London."

The pattern of offending saw Pawlowski repeatedly target passengers travelling on the Tube, with each victim picked out for the phone they had with them.

It was the spate of repeat offences that prompted the investigation, as detectives hunted the serial robber across multiple Tube locations before bringing him before the courts.

No further details of individual incidents, specific dates, station names, or the identities of the victims were included in the announcement of the sentencing.