A gang of violent robbers who snatched mobile phones from 46 commuters across London in only 11 days were facing jail today.
The five-strong gang used a high- powered stolen scooter to target people talking on smartphones or using iPads in the street.
Most of the offences took place in affluent streets in Battersea and Wandsworth but the gang also struck in Lambeth, Richmond and Hammersmith & Fulham. On one day in south London 10 offences were committed in five hours.
Today police released dramatic footage of one incident taken by a cyclist using a headcam, showing the gang snatching a phone from a girl walking down a street in Clapham.
Four gang members were due to be sentenced for conspiracy to commit robbery at Kingston crown court today. Walid Hnida, 18, Michael Ahmed, 20, Courtney Morgan, 19, and a 17-year-old pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing. A 16-year-old is to be sentenced for conspiracy to steal at a later date.
The gang, their faces hidden by motorcycle crash helmets, would park the stolen 300cc Aprilla scooter to watch pedestrians and identify targets before riding the machine at speed onto pavements and snatching phones.
Eight people were injured, including a woman who was punched in the face and another woman who was dragged along the pavement as she tried to keep hold of her phone.
One woman who fought with the robbers when they struck was pulled onto the hot exhaust of the scooter and needed hospital treatment for burns.
Det Insp Mark Blackshaw of Wandsworth CID said: “The injuries were getting more worrying as the offences continued and we had to act quickly.”
Police swooped on Ahmed’s address in Battersea last October and found a number of phone cases that were linked to victims. The rest of the gang were arrested shortly afterwards.
