Gang who used machetes to rob watches worth £35K are jailed

A group of men who committed a series of knifepoint robberies have been jailed for more than 24 years in total.

The group used a stolen BMW on false number plates to carry out their crimes, in each case threatening the victims with a large knife or machete, before stealing items including watches and bags. None of the stolen items have been recovered.

In a statement read to the court during sentencing, one of the victims said: “I was outraged that a senseless act of completely unnecessary and unprovoked physical and emotional violence was perpetrated on my husband, and myself.

“While I was not injured, I was both shocked and terrified during the brief period of the ordeal.

“Since then I have been continually worrying about the need to appear in court and ‘confront’ the assailants again.”

The gang were sentenced yesterday at Isleworth Crown Court.

Michael Malik Ahmed, 29, of Little Dimocks, Balham, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to six counts of robbery.

Kaijuan Henry, 19, of Woodward Road, Dagenham and Jessy Ouma, 18 of Patmore Estate, Wandsworth were found guilty of being involved in the robberies and sentenced to six years and four years in jail respectively.

Zakariah Yusuf, 19, Joseph Opoku, 19, and Roshan Clark, 19, all of the Winstanley Estate, had previously pleaded guilty to being involved in the robberies.

Yusuf was sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment, Opoku to three years and Clark to three years and nine months.

The first robbery took place in South Parade, Chelsea at around 11.15am on December 21, 2021. 

A vehicle, driven by Ahmed stopped next to a couple out walking and Clark and Henry jumped out armed with a crowbar and large serrated knife and forced him to hand over his watch worth about £1,500.

At around noon the same day in Cornford Grove, Tooting, a man was walking down the road when he was chased by Clark and Henry, armed with a long pointed and serrated knife.

The victim was confronted at a doorway and punched in the face, causing part of his tooth to fall out, before his bag was stolen from him.

Later that evening, at around 6pm, two men were sitting at a pub table in Walton Street, South Kensington when Clark and Henry, armed with a knife and a machete stole both their watches worth around £35,000 each.

Then on January 9, 2022, a couple were walking down Draycott Avenue, near Sloane Square at around 3.15pm. Ouma, Yusuf and Opoku confronted them with a large machete.

The woman had her £6,000 Rolex watch and Bulgari ring stolen. The man was hit in the face, causing multiple fractures and his £1,150 watch was also stolen.

The couple remembered the car’s registration number and reported it to police. Shortly afterwards, officers saw the BMW at the junction of Balham High Road and Chestnut Grove.

Specialist officers pursued the vehicle, which crashed near the junction of Dornton Road and Culverdon Road. The occupants of the car fled from the scene and into an estate where police were unable to find them.

In their rush to escape, the robbers left a number of items behind which police used to identify and arrest the suspects.

Pictured top: From left, Henry, Ouma, Yusuf, Opoku, Clark and Ahmed (Picture: The Met)