London couple in luxury flats 'walked over a collapsed Deliveroo rider to complain about a missing item'

24 February 2023, 20:08 | Updated: 24 February 2023, 21:02

A couple walked over a Deliveroo rider who had collapsed while taking them their food on Thursday, in a shocking act of callousness captured on camera.

The appalling incident took place in Alie Street in Aldgate, in the City of London, at about 10.30pm on Thursday.

The delivery rider, identified only as Mohamed, collapsed in the foyer of a block of luxury flats while delivering Thai food to a couple.

Several people rushed to his aid and called an ambulance, while his rider app kept sending him messages, which may have been from the people he was delivering to.

They came down and took their food and went back to their room while passers-by continued to tend to Mohamed and made contact with his family.

One of those people happened to be James Farrar, general secretary of the app drivers and couriers union.

The couple later came down and tried to complain about their order missing an item.

Mr Farrar later told LBC: "They came back, and said something wasn’t right [with the order].

"We said 'look, do you see him there?' They said 'Oh, yeah, yeah yeah', and left him, and went back up to their place.

"They were trying to push a point, but clearly it was completely inappropriate for them to be making that point.

"That kind of shocked me."

At the same time, Mr Farrar and the others helping Mohamed had to work to persuade the security guards at the block of luxury flats to let them take him inside out of the cold and onto a sofa in the lobby.

The guards declined at first but later relented, he said.

Mohamed's wife and her brother came to meet them and accompany him to the hospital.

The ambulance only came for Mohamed an hour after the people helping him dialled 999.

"This is central London - E1," Mr Farrar said.

"That’s shocking to me because the thing is, think about it. There’s a Deliveroo driver, and he can bring you your food at a touch of a button within a few minutes, and yet you can’t get an ambulance that might save their life for an hour."

LBC has kept details of Mohamed's condition private to protect his privacy, at his family's request.

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A Deliveroo spokesperson said: “We were all deeply concerned by this incident and have spoken to the rider’s family to offer our support.

"Riders are at the very heart of our business and their safety and well-being is our absolute priority.”

The spokesperson added that they have several measures in place to keep riders safe, including a free safety app, free accident and liability insurance, and earnings support for illness and families.