A gang of suspected burglars have been charged after jewels, watches and fine art worth at least £100,000 were stolen in a series of smash-and-grab raids across London.
Thieves were caught on camera brazenly using hammers to smash their way into Suttons and Robertsons pawnbrokers on Edgware Road on July 1.
It is said jewellery and watches worth £40,000 were stolen in the raid.
George O’Hare, 36, Lee McCready, 44, Matthew Windrass, 49, and Anthony Munday, 29, have all now been charged with burglary at the store.
A fifth defendant, Christopher Gibbs, 42, is accused of raids on the Fendi store in Sloane Street, Chelsea on May 8 when £8,350 of handbags and accessories were taken, as well as a £1,107 cash raid on Unico in St John’s Wood in June and a burglary at Official watches, a luxury brokers in Duke Street, Marylebone.
He is also accused of involvement in artwork worth more than £66,000 being stolen from Clarendon Fine Art on Marylebone High Street last month.
The five men were all charged last night after a Met Police Flying Squad investigation.
They were due to appear to face the charges for the first time at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
O’Hare, of Wormholt Road, Hammersmith and Fulham, is charged with burglary, as well as possession of cocaine, two alleged breaches of a Serious Crime Prevention Order, and one charge of money laundering. Gibbs, of Talbot Road, Westminster, faces four counts of burglary.
McCready, of Grand Junction Place, Uxbridge, Windrass, of Park Crescent, Ascot, and Munday, of Harrow Road, Westminster, are all facing a single charge of burglary.
Police said they were remanded in custody ahead of the court hearing.
