Morgan McSweeney's phone was stolen on October 20, 2025, in central London, and he reported the theft via a 999 call to the Metropolitan Police. The police recorded the wrong address for the theft, mistaking Belgrave Road in Westminster for Belgrave Street in Tower Hamlets, and closed the case without investigation due to the address error and lack of realistic lines of inquiry. The Metropolitan Police are revisiting the investigation into the phone theft.
A transcript of the 999 call, released by the Metropolitan Police, shows McSweeney called at around 10:30pm on 20 October to report that a young man on a pedal bike had mounted the pavement and snatched his phone. According to multiple reports, in the 999 call, McSweeney did not disclose that he was the Prime Minister's chief of staff, though he told police the stolen phone was a government device. The transcript reveals that McSweeney gave the wrong address, telling the call handler his phone was taken in 'Belgrave Street in Westminster.'
The Metropolitan Police admitted failings after The Times reported officers did not properly investigate the theft of Morgan McSweeney's phone. According to police data, fewer than 1% of mobile phone thefts result in a charge.
The theft 'was reported months before the whole Mandelson situation even began.'
The theft occurred around a month after the Prime Minister sacked Mandelson as ambassador over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, with Lord Mandelson beginning the ambassadorial role in February 2025 but being sacked in September after new information about the depth of his relationship with Epstein emerged. The prime minister is facing fresh questions about his judgment in giving Lord Mandelson the role despite the peer's friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Files released show the PM was warned the appointment posed a 'reputational risk,' with a due diligence document sent to the PM on 11 December 2024 raising issues including a 2019 JP Morgan report finding Epstein appeared to 'maintain a particularly close relationship' with Lord Mandelson. The document notes that Lord Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein's house while Epstein was in jail in June 2009.
The stolen phone may have contained messages related to Peter Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador, and according to multiple reports, McSweeney's phone was not backed up, leading to potential loss of correspondence. The Cabinet Office holds some messages between McSweeney and Mandelson.
Reed was lying, saying the theft did not happen months before the Mandelson scandal.
McSweeney resigned as chief of staff in February 2026 over his role in Mandelson's appointment, according to multiple reports, and MPs passed a humble address in February 2026 compelling the government to release files on Mandelson's appointment.
The initial batch of documents released does not include a series of follow-up questions that Number 10 sent to Lord Mandelson about his relationship with Epstein, and the documents suggested Lord Mandelson was offered briefings about sensitive material from the Foreign Office before the department had finished the formal vetting process. The Conservatives claimed there was a 'cover up' because two sections in the documents reserved for the PM to write comments were blank. However, it is understood no redactions were made to the two blank sections and they were published as returned from the prime minister's office.
A contradiction has emerged over the timing of the theft relative to the Mandelson scandal: According to inews.co.uk, Housing Secretary Steve Reed described the theft as 'reported months before the whole Mandelson situation even began,' but the theft occurred on October 20, 2025, around a month after Mandelson was sacked in September 2025. According to inews.co.uk, SNP MP Stephen Flynn described Reed as lying, saying the theft did not happen months before the Mandelson scandal.
Key unknowns persist, including what specific messages were on McSweeney's stolen phone and whether they contained sensitive information about Mandelson's appointment, as well as why McSweeney did not disclose his role as chief of staff during the 999 call. It is also unclear whether the Metropolitan Police's initial failure to investigate was due to error, negligence, or other factors, and what the 'new information' was that led to Mandelson's sacking in September 2025 remains unspecified. Additionally, the significance of the two blank sections in the released documents reserved for PM comments is undetermined.