Ipswich man sentenced for his part in ram-raid burglaries at luxury London stores including Selfridges and Moncler

A Suffolk man who was part of a gang who stole more than £465,000 worth of designer items in a series of ram-raid burglaries in London has avoided jail.

Jamie Claydon, 28, of Ipswich Road in Newbourne, near Ipswich, was one of five men who admitted conspiring to burgle three premises in Westminster last year, the first of which saw them smash cars into Selfridges and steal a number of luxury handbags.

Claydon, along with Martin Dunne, 37, Omar Bakali, 28, Gary Lynch, 32, and Anthony Alleyne, 53, appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday where the Suffolk man, who also pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years.

It came after a series of ram-raid burglaries in London's West End last year, the first of which saw two vehicles, an Audi S4 bearing stolen number plates and a Jaguar S-Type, which was on cloned number plates, approach Selfridges on Oxford Street at 3.30am on July 14, 2020.

The Jaguar reversed through the entrance doors and five suspects ran into the store and stole a number of Valentino and Balenciaga handbags. They then returned to the cars and drove off.

Detectives began an investigation to trace the suspects' and vehicles' movements, with extensive CCTV enquiries tracking the cars to a residential area in Highgate.

But it was not until after the second burglary that officers were able to identify the members of the organised crime group with evidence from hours of CCTV, extensive telephone records and automated number plate recognition (ANPR).

Celine on Mount Street was the second premises targeted on July 24 2020, at 4.05am, when two stolen cars with stolen number plates, an Audi S4 and a Volkswagen Golf arrived at the scene.

The Golf reversed through the entrance doors at speed, which caused extensive structural damage to the store, and five suspects ran into the store and stole a number of handbags.

The Golf was abandoned in the store while the men left the scene in the Audi, but DNA linked Alleyen to the Golf.

Further telephone evidence and ANPR showed Dunne and Bakali had travelled from Clacton-on-Sea in Essex to north London on the evening of July 24 in the Audi S4.

CCTV footage showed them meeting with other members of the group at a residential area in Highgate to change clothes and prepare the Audi and Golf, which involved them changing number plates on the vehicles.

The group were then seen on CCTV rendezvousing in Highgate after the break-in and transferring the items stolen into a Ford Transit van.

Footage from that night and later surveillance observations linked the van to Lynch, while images and messages on Bakali's phone showed him attempting to sell the handbags on in the following days.

Moncler in Old Bond Street was the third luxury store burgled a few months later, just after midnight on October 9, 2020.

CCTV evidence showed the group meeting in a residential area in Chalk Farm.

As with the earlier offences, the group turned their mobile phones off at this meeting in order to evade detection.

The suspects approached the shop in a stolen car, a Kia Niro, and two motorbikes, after which they smashed their way through the entrance door with a sledgehammer.

They stole a number of jackets, bags and other items of clothing and fled the scene.

One of the motorbikes was abandoned at the scene, and enquiries showed it had been stolen.

Later that day, on the afternoon of October 9, detectives conducted surveillance in a residential area of Epping and they found Claydon in a van and a large amount of Moncler clothing in bin bags, which had been stolen during the burglary.

He was arrested for handling stolen goods and released under investigation.

Meanwhile, DNA linked Bakali to the motorbike left at the scene and images found on Dunne's phone showed he had been in possession of stolen clothing from the third burglary.

Detective Constable Martyn Stone,from the Met’s Flying Squad, said: “This was an immensely complex investigation involving a huge amount of evidence.

“The group caused havoc in the West End with buildings being severely damaged and high valued goods being stolen. These men have since discovered that crime does not pay and thanks to the complex investigative work by the Flying Squad, they will instead be spending time behind bars.”

Claydon was later arrested again in May 2021 and charged with conspiracy to burgle. The other members of the group were arrested throughout March and May 2021 and also charged with conspiracy to burgle.

Investigations continue to track down and bring to justice outstanding suspects who are believed to be involved in these offences.

The other four men received the following sentences:

• Dunne, of Foxes Parade, Waltham Abbey, was sentenced to three years in prison
• Bakali, of Hopefield Avenue, Kilburn, was jailed for four years and four months
• Lynch, of Tudor Close, Highgate, was sentenced to four years and six months in jail
• Alleyne, of Peckham Road, Peckham, was jailed for four years and six months

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here