11:01am Sunday 7th September 2008
By Harry Miller
Three brazen robbers who committed 13 armed robberies on bookies and banks in south London have been jailed.
Ahmed Ibrahim, 39, of Loampit Vale, Lewisham, pleaded guilty of 11 counts of robbery and was sentenced to seven-years at the Inner London Crown Court on Friday.
Ibrahim’s sometime accomplice Erhan Erguc, 44, of Lee High Road, Lewisham was found guilty of five counts of robbery and sentenced to serve three-and-a-half years in jail.
Ibrahim’s second partner, Ozay Osman, 54, Linden Grove, Peckham, was found guilty of one count of robbery and sentenced to 18 months.
The crime spree began with one robbery last November before 12 more bookies and banks were targeted in January and February with the trio entering venues – including one in Church Street, Croydon - without disguises and telling the clerk they were armed.
Painstaking CCTV comparisons with previous incidents revealed Ibrahim and Erguc had previous convictions for robbery.
When police arrived to arrest Erguc at his home on February 11 they found him with Osman.
Osman was arrested when officers found a betting slip with a handwritten note demanding money after a search of his nearby car.
While officers were making those arrests, colleagues struck at Ibrahim's home, but he out committing a further robbery in Croydon.
Later in the day, an off-duty officer going to work spotted Ibrahim and recognised him as a man wanted in connection with the armed robberies. When Ibrahim got in a taxi the officer followed him to an address in Mottingham.
Once at the address Ibrahim realised he had been followed and told the officer he had a gun before running into the house. Armed officers were called and Ibrahim was arrested a short time later.
Detective Sergeant Mario Russo, from Tower Bridge Flying Squad, said: “This was a significant series of offences in a very short period of time. Although no one was injured, the effect they have had on those present should not be underestimated.
“Their intention was to cause maximum distress as they would enter the bookmakers with their hands in pockets to intimate they had a gun. The judge noted that their actions, in particular those of Ibrahim, had a 'profound and long lasting' effect.
“It is thanks to the painstaking work of officers from the Flying Squad and the dedication of an off duty colleague from another part of the Met that justice has caught up with them.”
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