Moment youths suspected of 27 raids in east London ransack shop in Stepney

Hatty Collier23 December 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

CCTV footage caught the moment youths suspected of carrying out 27 raids on newsagents ransacked a store in east London.

The video, released by police, shows four hooded men raiding a Co-op in Stepney for cigarettes and alcohol.

Police said they fled with more than £1,500 worth of wares after targeting the store in Middlesex Street at around 11.50pm on December 9.

Scotland Yard believe the four suspects in the footage and another man who waited outside are responsible for 27 incidents of shoplifting, burglaries and robberies at venues in the Stepney area since October.

CCTV footage of the raid at the Co-op in Stepney 
Metropolitan Police

It is believed the group have returned to the same venues on several occasions.

Police released the CCTV footage on Friday in a bid to trace them.

The first youth isdescribed as an Asian man, in his late 20s and 5ft 11ins tall. He wore a black jacket, dark jeans and black trainers.

Left to right: Suspect One [image ref 233731] and Suspect Two [image ref 233730]
Metropolitan Police

Suspect two was described as a black man in his late 20s and 5ft 11ins tall. He wore a black jacket, dark jeans, grey trainers and coloured rucksack.

The third suspect was described as a black man in his mid-20s and 6ft tall, clad in a dark blue jacket with brown shoulders, grey hooded top, dark blue jeans and grey trainers.

Suspect four was described as a black man in his mid-20s and 5ft 11ins tall, wearing a silver-coloured jacket with a motif, dark blue hooded top, blue jeans and dark shoulder bag.

Left to right: Suspect 3 [image ref 233732] and Suspect 4 [image ref 233733]
Metropolitan Police

Detective Sergeant Edd Ng, the investigating officer from Tower Hamlets, said: "This group of men appear to regularly target local premises which stock tobacco and alcoholic drinks.

"We have been speaking to the owners of premises across the local area to provide them with crime prevention advice.”

Anyone with information or any witnesses are urged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in