A notorious gang responsible for a string of violent robberies, netting nearly £150,000 in stolen goods from high-end shops over a four-month period, is now facing prison sentences.
The group used a car to force entry into an upscale clothing store, employed a sledgehammer to breach a jeweler’s façade, and broke into a fine art gallery during seven audacious heists across London last year.
Among the perpetrators, Lee McCready, aged 46, participated in one of the robberies even while he was on parole for a murder committed back in 2005.
In a crowded courtroom at Kingston Crown Court, McCready stood alongside fellow gang members Christopher Gibbs, 43, Matthew Windrass, 50, George O’Hare, 42, Anthony Munday, 40, Paul Hughes, 42, and David Rigelsford, 37. All had previous convictions related to burglary.
Scotland Yard’s elite flying squad detectives tied the gang to the crimes after scrutinizing countless hours of CCTV footage, discovering that the same vehicles were repeatedly used by various members during the robberies.
The crime spree was ignited on May 8, when Gibbs, O’Hare, and an accomplice drove a blue Ford Fiesta into the entrance of the Fendi luxury clothing store in Kensington.
The trio of thugs made off in a Mercedes getaway car with £8,350 of designer goods.
During the early hours of June 30, Hughes and Gibbs broke into the Unico café in St Johns Wood, northwest London, and snatched £1,107 in cash as well as the store’s safe.
McCready and Windrass used a sledgehammer to smash into a jewellers on Edgware Road in west London during a nine-minute daylight raid at 4.15pm.
The men stole more than £60,000 worth of watches and jewellery in the shocking raid
The following day, McCready and Windrass used a sledgehammer to smash into a jewellers on Edgware Road in west London during a nine-minute daylight raid at 4.15pm.
CCTV footage showed the shocking moment the balaclava-clad robbers bludgeoned the reinforced glass of the store before reaching inside to snatch valuables they then stuffed into black bags.
Munday, of Hyde Park, was the getaway driver and the trio fled in a silver Jaguar with a haul of at least £59,930.
McCready was freed on a lifetime licence in 2017 after being jailed for life for being part of a gang who stamped, kicked and stabbed Ricky Fisher to death 21 years ago.
At 3.20am on July 13 Rigelsford and another suspect parked a white SUV outside a store in Kensington, kicked their way inside and took £11,000 worth of goods.
Eight days later, Rigelsford and Gibbs used a sledgehammer to smash into a watch store in Westminster at 3.30am, destroying cabinets inside before leaving empty-handed.
Bungling Gibbs gave away his identity by using a Lime bike to travel to the shop – booked via his bank account.
Christopher Gibbs, of Bayswater, was convicted of four counts of burglary on Sloane Street, St John’s Wood High Street, Duke Street and Marylebone High Street and one of attempted burglary on Marylebone High Street
George O’Hare, of Wormholt, was convicted of one count of burglary on Sloane Street, possession of Class A drugs and breach of a serious crime prevention order.
Rigelsford, of Kilburn, was convicted of three counts of burglary on Kensington Church Street, Duke Street and Mayfair, two thefts of a motor vehicle and one theft from a motor vehicle.
The following Sunday, the gang stole £66,500 worth of goods from Clarendon Fine Art in Marylebone, central London, at 3.04am.
Gibbs and another man used a paving block taken from a white Peugeot to smash through the front door, before snatching the artwork and fleeing towards Oxford Street.
On August 5, Gibbs targeted beauty supply store NK Apothecary in Marylebone, launching a brick at the window but failing to break inside.
Rigelsford also burgled the May Fair Hotel on March 31, stealing £12,000 worth of bags and valuables from a couple who had left their room.
On May 22 he stole a convertible Mini Cooper which was then used as a getaway vehicle in a burglary at the luxury Phillips Auction House in Mayfair, when £610,500 worth of items were taken.
Paul Hughes, of Church Street, was convicted of two counts of burglary on Sloane Street and St John’s Wood High Street.
Matthew Windrass, of Ascot, Berkshire, was convicted of one count of burglary on Edgeware Road.
Anthony Munday, of Hyde Park, was convicted of one count of burglary on Edgeware Road.
Lee McCready, of Grand Junction Place, Uxbridge, was convicted of one count of burglary on Edgware Road – committed while he was on license over a 2005 murder
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Mather, from the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad, said: ‘We realise these attacks on luxury stores have had a significant impact on business owners and the communities around them.
‘Our detectives worked quickly, establishing common patterns between the attacks to link them to one criminal network. Forensic analysis and fast-paced CCTV enquiries were then able to identify the suspects.
‘This is a clear message to anyone who thinks they can carry out smash-and-grab raids in London – we will identify you, we will track you down and we will bring you to justice.’
Sentencing has been adjourned to March 17.
