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Suspect Arrested Over Theft of Morgan McSweeney’s Government Phone: A man aged 28 has been detained for allegedly selling a stolen phone of the government, belonging to Morgan McSweeney, former chief of staff for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Scotland Yard took the suspect into custody on Wednesday, April 29, from a residence in Peckham in southeast London. He was released on bail until further investigations.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that the suspect isn’t believed to be involved in the initial theft. He is instead suspected of receiving the phone following the theft and then reselling it. Despite his arrest, the phone was not recovered.
How the Phone Was Stolen
On the 20th of October of 2025, Morgan McSweeney—at the time, head of the staff for Prime Minister Keir Starmer—had his iPhone, which was issued by the government, stolen from Belgrave Road, Westminster, central London. The incident took place just prior to 22:30 BST when a man riding a bike took the phone away from McSweeney on the street and sped off. McSweeney chased the suspect and contacted his office to set up the tracking feature, and then called 911 to inform the police of the theft.
The incident was described to MPs; McSweeney stated, “Somebody hopped onto the pavement and took my phone from me. “ McSweeney added that he’d felt “quite adrenalized” during the chase, adding: “At 48 years of age, you shouldn’t be chasing people down the street.”
Police Error Delayed the Investigation
The investigation was hindered by a mistake made in the beginning. Police first registered the wrong address for the place where the theft occurred, in the wrong location, assuming it was located in East London rather than in central London. The case was eventually closed but reopened following the details of the incident being published by The Sun this Sunday.
The location discrepancy prompted officers to look over CCTV footage from the wrong location in Tower Hamlets, near Stepney Green Park. The investigation could not be pursued. were found, and the investigation was shut down without further action or any direct contact with McSweeney.
In a press release issued on the 25th of March 2026, the Metropolitan Police acknowledged the error and confirmed that the address was wrongly entered during the initial call. It should be registered in the correct location as Belgrave Road, Pimlico. The investigation was re-evaluated by detectives with a fresh review of CCTV footage of the proper Westminster location.
Why the Phone Matters Politically
The device stolen is at the center of a bigger political saga. The phone, stolen by a man riding an e-bike, might have been a source of WhatsApp messages that contain crucial evidence that McSweeney was involved in pushing Lord Mandelson’s nomination in the role of UK ambassador in the United States, despite internal warnings about his connections to the convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Lord Mandelson was dismissed from his ambassador post in September 2025 following the revelation that US Justice Department files revealed his relationship with Epstein. The political consequences that followed have been important. Since the scandal was exposed, there have been numerous demands to publish the correspondence between officials and politicians over the appointment of Lord Mandelson.
MPs approved the Tory motion that requires Downing Street to publish all documents on Lord Mandelson’s appointment. This includes messages. McSweeney has given all of the messages still accessible to the Cabinet Office.
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McSweeney Defends Himself Before MPs
McSweeney informed members of the Foreign Affairs Committee that there was “probably not as much” information on Lord Mandelson’s appointment on his phone that had been disclosed to Downing Street, which conducted its own investigation following the sacked peer’s firing. “Everything that I had at that time in September, which was more than a month before my phone was stolen, I shared with the No. 10 team,” McSweeney told the committee.
However, the former adviser made an important admission: the former adviser admitted to lawmakers that he “probably” used disappearing messages on WhatsApp in exchanges with Lord Mandelson—a fact that has attracted scrutiny due to the greater demand for complete transparency.
McSweeney resigned from Downing Street earlier this year. Many blamed him for the appointment of Lord Mandelson.
