A trio of men from Croydon and Sutton who stole thousands of pounds worth of mobile phones from shops across south London have been jailed.

George Ventham, Troy Adolfess and Reece Raymond Roy Buttery committed the spate of crimes over a two-week period last August.

O2 and EE stories in Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Southwark, Sutton and Wandsworth were all hit, with more than £50,000 worth of mobile phones being stolen.

But it was at the seventh shop in Rye Lane, Peckham, that all three were caught in the act by police.

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Troy Adolfess

Officers closed in on the suspects before Ventham climbed out from the EE shop and hopped on the back of a moped ridden by Buttery.

Adolfess also came out of the shop and tried to run but was later Tasered and arrested at the scene, with his mobile phone also being seized as well.

Although Ventham and Buttery both came back to try and help Adolfess escape, both failed and fled the scene.

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Reece Buttery

An investigation was launched and linked the suspects to a spate of similar crimes committed across south London, with detectives linking Adolfess to six of them.

Analysis of his phone later linked Ventham to all of them and Buttery to the last one in Peckham.

Ventham was arrested outside of his home in Sutton, despite trying to flee, before a search uncovered a “large quantity” of drugs for which he was further held on.

The 23-year-old, of Carshalton Road, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for conspiracy to commit burglary and possession with intent to supply cannabis.

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George Ventham

He was jailed alongside Adolfess, 24, of Hamilton Road in Thornton Heath, and Buttery, 23, of Knight’s Hill in West Norwood.

Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary during those two weeks in August before being sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison each as well.

Chief Inspector Jim Corbett, from the Met’s Operation Venice, said: “These criminals callously burgled a number of mobile phone shops for their own financial gain. Not only did they cause damage to premises, but disrupted trade and caused financial loss to retailers.

“Trying to help their fellow criminal, Adolfess, escape police custody shows the attempts these individuals would go to, to remain at large and continue committing crime.

“Not only is it due to the work of the officers responding to the call, but also the tenacity of the Venice Investigation Team who linked the three to their other crimes across London and gained evidence against them that has achieved this sentence today.”