Hammer wielding moped gang facing jail after 103 phone robberies in just 18 days

Dangerous: one of the gang does a wheelie on a moped in the street.
Justin Davenport6 October 2017
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A prolific moped gang which carried out robberies on demand — with stolen phones snatched from pedestrians in London being shipped to Bangladesh — faces jail today.

A court heard how three young moped riders stole 103 high value mobiles in just 18 days in robberies across London.

One incident outside the BBC HQ near Oxford Street was caught by a photographer and published in the Evening Standard. The gang operated in Camden, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Islington.

Armed with a hammer and a tyre wrench, the riders would spot a victim talking or texting on a mobile and then mount the pavement and either snatch the phone or steal it after threatening the owner with the weapons.

The gang stole 103 high value mobiles in just 18 days in robberies across London

The three teenagers — Claude Parkinson, 18, and two others, aged 16 and 15, who cannot be named because of their age — were said to be one of the most prolific of moped gangs targeting pedestrians in London.

In the 18 days between April 18 and May 5, there were 212 moped robbery and snatch offences in Westminster alone, 83 of which were committed by the gang.

Claude Parkinson is due to be sentenced today along with two other gang members who cannot be named for legal reasons

They were captured on film on May 4 in a dramatic picture which showed one of them raising a hammer in his gloved hand while the rider drove at pedestrians.

Today the trio were due to be sentenced at Southwark crown court.

All three are from Islington and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery at an earlier hearing.

Scotland Yard said a fourth man Shamsul Chowdhury, 40, of Tower Hamlets, pleaded guilty at the same court to handling stolen goods.

Police found evidence which showed Chowdhury sent text messages to the robbers giving a list of different phones and what he would pay for them.

Police found 30 phones, several laptops, £3,000 in cash and list of stolen phones which had already been sold on in a search of his home. He is believed to have sent the phones to Bangladesh.

Police said photographs of the gang helped detectives piece together their movements.

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