by Rockape » Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:36 am
In today’s Telegraph:
A GANG that attempted to rob two Arsenal footballers have been jailed for their “abhorrent” crime spree across north London.
In 2019, Arsenal players Sead Kolašinac and Mesut Özil were ambushed in Hampstead, north-west London, by gang members trying to steal their £200,000 watches.
The players, who were sitting in a £165,000 Mercedes at the time of the attack, were caught on CCTV jumping out of the vehicle to fight off the attackers, as Ozil’s newlywed wife watched in horror.
Gang member Jordan Northover, 28, pleaded guilty to the attack last year but yesterday was one of nine men jailed for their involvement in a string of violent robberies.
Homeowners and drivers across north London were terrorised by the raiders, who were armed with knives, machetes and firearms.
In July last year, four members terrorised a family in Brondesbury Park after forcing their way into their home through a bathroom window.
The parents awoke to find the masked men in their bedroom and were forced to open their safe after one of them threatened to “go and see” their daughter who was sleeping next door.
In April, a driver was forced from his car and made to hand over his Rolex after being threatened with a machete.
The following month, five of the men burst into a house in Finchley, pushing the 80-year-old female occupant to the floor, smashing her wardrobes and demanding to know where the safe was. Two more attacks happened over the following months in St John’s Wood and Golders Green, where a mother was at home with her two children when two of the burglars forced their way in with a crowbar and stole her black Audi.
In St John’s Wood, the victim was threatened at gunpoint to hand over cash and jewellery.
The police finally arrested the gang in July last year after detectives who were monitoring their movements unexpectedly became a target in Barnet Gate.
Two members of the gang threaten the footballers with a knife as they try to steal their expensive watches
Two members of the gang threaten the footballers with a knife as they try to steal their expensive watches
Gang members approached their unmarked police car in Thurlow Crescent, Hampstead, intent on robbing them, but the officers called in reinforcements as the gang used a metal bar to smash the car window.
The four raiders sped off in a stolen car and were arrested nearby after being chased by a police helicopter.
In all, 20 offences are believed to have been committed by various members of the gang.
Detective Sergeant Gary Taylor from the Flying Squad, which investigated the gang said: “The way this gang targeted their victims and threatened them with weapons during their crime spree was truly shocking and abhorrent.
‘The impact these heinous crimes have had on the victims cannot be understated’
“The impact these heinous crimes have had on the victims cannot be understated.
“These defendants wrongly thought they wouldn’t be caught. However, Flying Squad officers were able to close the net on these robbers and bring them into custody after a proactive surveillance operation.”
Northover was sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison while another senior gang member, Patrick Delaney, 30, was sentenced to a total of 16 years’ imprisonment.
Cheyenne Cato, 27, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, 29-year-old Martin Delaney to 11 years, Kiaron Jones-Hewitt, 27, to eight years and 26-year-old Andy Kiasuka-Kiakanda to 14 years and four months.
Ryan Leurs, 19, and 20-year-old Steven Barton were both sentenced to nine years in prison.
Ashley Smith, 31, was jailed for 10 years last year, which was reduced to six on appeal for his part in the attempted robbery of the footballers.