Teens jailed for hammer raid (From Your Local Guardian)

Teens jailed for hammer raid

11:27am Sunday 4th May 2008 in

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Two teens from Streatham and Upper Norwood have been jailed for their parts in a raid on an inner city jewellers.

Unemployed 17-year-olds Lealle Bissessar of Sylvan Hill and Andrew Fraser of Carisbrooke Court were part of a five-member gang who armed themselves with hammers to rob a Regent Street jewellers in January.

Kingston Crown Court was told Bissessar and Fraser, along with Moses Preddie, 16, from Brixton, and a 14-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, entered the Mappin and Webb shop, shouting abuse at the two customers and six members of staff inside before threatening them with hammers.

While Nicholas Smith, 21, from Peckham, waited in their white getaway van around the corner, one of the gang pushed a security guard against the wall, thrusting a hammer against his neck and the three others smashed display cabinets to steal 14 watches inside, causing £30,000 of damage.

Spotting the robbery in progress, a member of the Met Police's Diplomatic Protection Group called for support.

He followed the youths to Warwick Street where he made a note of the registration number of their white van as they drove off.

Fifteen minutes later officers from the armed response team of the Diplomatic Protection Group intercepted the vehicle as it drove down Whitehall, arresting all passengers.

Police found watches, hammers, balaclavas and gloves inside the car.

The subsequent investigation revealed the clothing worn by the defendants when they were arrested matched that shown on CCTV images of the robbery.

Traces of blood found on one of the smashed cabinets were also matched to one of the defendants.

Bissessar, Fraser, Preddie and Smith were all jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to the robbery.

The 14-year-old was sentenced to two years' detention.

Acting Detective Inspector Sarah Staff of Barnes Flying Squad said: "This was a crime motivated purely by greed committed by determined and violent criminals.

"It left staff and customers in Mappin and Webb that day in fear for their lives and that terror will remain with those people for some time to come.

"The sentences passed should act as a deterrent for those thinking of engaging in this type of crime."

The judge lifted reporting restrictions that were in place protecting the identity of the three teens except for those covering the 14-year-old.