Three men who carried out a violent street robbery in one of London’s upmarket districts have been sentenced to prison.
The trio held up a man at knifepoint to steal a £140,000 Richard Mille watch in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, one of the most upscale areas of the UK capital. It happened shortly before midnight on January 28 this year.
Police in London have been trying to crack down on watch and phone robberies that have been described by politicians as an epidemic.
The men have now been sentenced to a combined 14 years and nine months’ imprisonment after the Metropolitan Police investigation.
CCTV videos showed the men arriving in a vehicle before committing the robbery. Footage then showed the group fleeing the scene and boarding a train to Slough, west of London, where they lived.
Police were able to trace the vehicle, which led them to identify a suspect, Younes Djoudi, 34. He was arrested after a brief foot chase the day after the attack.
Data from his phone led police to the other two suspects a week later. Djoudi was sentenced to five years and nine months’ in prison. Ali Eldahouzze, 22, was sentenced to five years and six months in prison, while Abdel El Habchi, 30, was given three years and six months.
All three men later pleaded guilty to robbery at the Westminster Magistrates' Court.
The Met says its campaign against violent crime is working and robberies in London have fallen by 12.8 per cent.
This month, a man pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, attempted robbery and possession of a knife after an alleged attack on a Saudi visitor in Mayfair, which prompted the Saudi embassy to warn its citizens to guard their property and be vigilant when out in London.
In March, two men who robbed a man of his Patek Philippe watch while he was out with his pregnant wife in Mayfair were jailed.