Organised crime gang who drove cars into shop entrances to steal luxury goods jailed

Five men from an organised crime group who stole more than £465,000 in a series of ram-raid burglaries in London’s West End have been jailed.

The group burgled Selfridges, Celine and Moncler by smashing the shop fronts while the stores were closed between July 14 and October 9, 2020.

They were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, December 21, after pleading guilty to conspiring to burgle three premises in Westminster.

Martin Dunne, 37, of Foxes Parade, Waltham Abbey, Omar Bakali, 28, of Hopefield Avenue, Kilburn, Gary Lynch, 32, of Tudor Close, Highgate, and Anthony Alleyne, 54 of Peckham Road, Peckham were sentenced to a total of 14 years and six months in prison.

Jamie Claydon, 28, of Ipswich Road, Newbourne, Suffolk, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He also pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods.

The group’s first target was Selfridges in Oxford Street, which they hit on July 14, 2020 at 3.30am.

They used a Jaguar with cloned number plates to reverse through the entrance doors before running into the store and stealing a number of Valentino and Balenciaga handbags.

The second offence occurred on July 24, 2020, at around 4.00am, at Celine on Mount Street. 

They repeated the same plan by reversing a Golf through the entrance doors at speed and then entering the shop and stealing a number of handbags. 

Extensive structural damage was caused to the store. 

The Golf was abandoned in the store while the men left the scene in an Audi.

The third burglary took place just after midnight on October 9, 2020 at Moncler in Old Bond Street. 

The suspects approached the venue in a stolen vehicle, a Kia Niro and two motorbikes and  smashed their way through the entrance door with a sledgehammer. 

They stole a number of jackets, bags and other items of clothing and fled the scene. 

One of the motorbikes used which had been stolen was abandoned at the scene.

Detectives from the Met’s Flying squad were able to track down the suspects using hours of CCTV, and extensive telephone records and automated number plate recognition (ANPR).

Detective Constable Martyn Stone from the Met’s Flying Squad, said:“This was an immensely complex investigation involving a huge amount of evidence. 

“The group caused havoc in the West End with buildings being severely damaged and high valued goods being stolen. 

“These men have since discovered that crime does not pay and thanks to the complex investigative work by the Flying Squad, they will instead be spending time behind bars.”

Claydon was later arrested again in May 2021 and charged with conspiracy to burgle. 

The other members of the group were arrested throughout March and May 2021 and also charged with conspiracy to burgle. 

Investigations continue to track down and bring to justice outstanding suspects who are believed to be involved in these offences.