ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Race Across the World winner's car broken into, laptop stolen in Cardiff

other · 2026-07-02

Alfie Watts, the winner of the fourth season of BBC's Race Across the World, had a break-in while touring schools in Cardiff, where his laptop was stolen. This happened on Tuesday night at Howard Place, just after he left his car alone for about 20 minutes. A thief broke a window and snatched the laptop bag, which also contained a packet of Werther's Originals and a sports racquet. At 22, Watts voiced his "enormous frustration," calling this incident "a low point" after two prior thefts in recent months. Thankfully, he had backed up his laptop, so he could continue with his talks, including one at Mount Stuart Primary School. Currently, he's visiting 35 schools across the UK, advocating for perseverance and self-belief.

Key facts

  • Alfie Watts' car was broken into in Cardiff on Tuesday night.
  • Laptop, sweets, and sports racquet stolen from vehicle at Howard Place.
  • Laptop contained mental health talk presentations, but data was backed up.
  • Three school talks proceeded as scheduled on Wednesday.
  • Watts raised £50,000 for Young Minds by driving a tuk-tuk from London to Norway.
  • Two other thefts occurred in the past two months: phone stolen in London, laptop in Santiago.
  • South Wales Police has no suspects and limited leads.
  • Watts won series four of BBC's Race Across the World with friend Owen Wood.

Entities

Artists

  • Alfie Watts
  • Owen Wood

Institutions

  • BBC
  • Young Minds
  • South Wales Police
  • Mount Stuart Primary School

Locations

  • Cardiff
  • Howard Place, Cardiff
  • Cardiff Bay
  • Hatfield
  • Hertfordshire
  • London
  • Santiago
  • Chile
  • Wales
  • Norway

Sources