Actress Genevieve Chenneour, 27, wrestles prolific criminal to ground before hitting him with stolen phone as stunned Kensington customers watch four-minute battle
This is the astonishing moment a Bridgerton actress turned action hero – tackling a prolific phone thief to the ground and beating him with her own stolen device in front of stunned coffee shop customers.
Genevieve Chenneour, 27, who plays gossip-monger Clara Livingston in the hit Netflix period drama, was enjoying a coffee with a friend at Joe & The Juice in posh Kensington when serial criminal Zacariah Boulares struck.
But the teenage thug got far more than he bargained for when the former Team GB athlete spotted him swiping her phone and launched into action – wrestling him to the ground in extraordinary scenes caught on CCTV.
The brave actress not only retrieved her phone from the 18-year-old Algerian thief but then used it as a weapon, repeatedly striking him with it as shocked customers watched the dramatic four-minute battle unfold.
They didn’t expect me to stand up for myself – but I did,” the defiant star later declared.
From Period Drama to Real-Life Drama
The shocking incident occurred on February 8 when Chenneour was out walking her dog with friend Carlo Kurcishi at the trendy juice bar on Kensington High Street.
CCTV footage obtained by police shows hooded Boulares lurking behind the actress, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. As soon as her friend went to the till to order, the thief swooped in to grab her phone from the table.
But Chenneour’s lightning-fast reactions saw her immediately grab Boulares by the shoulder as he tried to escape. With the help of her friend, she tackled the would-be thief to the ground in a move worthy of an action movie.
The fearless actress dislodged the phone from his hand before retrieving it from the floor – and then turning it into a weapon against her attacker.
Four-Minute Cafe Battle
The extraordinary confrontation didn’t end there. For four minutes, the battle raged on in the upmarket cafe as Chenneour refused to let the thief escape.
At one point, the confrontation moved to the back of the cafe before Boulares finally appeared to give up – but not before menacingly pointing his finger in the actress’s face.
The former athlete, who suffered a concussion in the attack and claimed even her dog was “traumatised,” showed the same fighting spirit that once saw her awarded an Olympic scholarship for Team GB’s artistic swimming team before injury cut short her sporting career.
Serial Criminal’s Shocking Past
The court heard that Boulares is no stranger to violent crime – with 12 previous convictions for 28 offences, all relating to theft.
In a chilling revelation, it emerged the thug had previously threatened to BEHEAD Welsh singing legend Aled Jones during a terrifying Rolex robbery in Chiswick in July 2023, when he was just 16.
He was sentenced to two years in youth detention for that attack but was released after serving just 14 months – free to terrorize more victims including the Bridgerton star.
Boulares also admitted stealing a black leather handbag from a diner at a pizza restaurant in London’s West End on January 30 this year.
Justice At Last
On May 29, Boulares pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to stealing Chenneour’s phone and assaulting customer Carlo Kurcishi, who tried to help during the attack.
When asked how he pleaded to stealing the mobile phone, he shouted: “Guilty!”
The serial thief has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on June 17 at Isleworth Crown Court.
Rising Star’s Journey
Chenneour’s path to stardom is as remarkable as her cafe heroics. The former Team GB artistic swimmer joined the national team at just 15 and was awarded an Olympic scholarship ahead of the 2016 Rio Games.
But when injury ended her sporting dreams, she reinvented herself as an actress. After working as a stunt double for underwater sequences in period feature “1242: Gateway To The West,” she landed her breakthrough role as the deliciously gossipy Clara Livingston in Bridgerton’s third season.
Phone Theft Epidemic
The actress’s ordeal highlights London’s spiraling phone theft crisis, with more than 70,000 devices snatched in the capital in 2024 alone – out of an estimated 100,000 thefts across the UK.
But few victims fight back with the determination shown by Chenneour, whose brave stand has been hailed as heroic by those who witnessed it.
As she awaits her attacker’s sentencing, the Bridgerton star has proven she’s just as fierce in real life as any character in the Regency drama – and criminals had better beware.
