A gang behind a “shockingly” violent six-month robbery spree targeting tourists in the West End have been jailed for a total of 54 years.
The eight men threatened and seriously assaulted pedestrians before stripping them of valuables worth £280,000 in 14 attacks between May and November 2017.
Police said most attacks were at night but one happened in daylight when the“despicable” gang mistook a cheap Rolex copy for a real one.
The group also threatened to stab some victims.
In a separate incident they stormed a house in Knightsbridge after befriending the residents on their way home after a night out.
They assaulted the victims with fists and a belt and after failing to steal anything returned at 5.20am, threatening the victims with bottles and a knife.
Police Sergeant Annie Yau, who led the investigation into the gang, said: “There was a shocking level of violence... with some victims being grabbed around the neck and thrown to the floor, often being kicked and punched when on the ground and had watches ripped from wrists.”
Mohammed Chaab, 20, of Cricklewood, was jailed at Kingston crown court for eight years; Abdelhakim Naili, 19, of Ealing, got seven years; Ziyad Al-Daher, 28, of Lewisham, 10 years; Serewo Gwanzura, 23, of Southwark, 11 years; Khalid Abdullah, 31, of Croydon, four years.
Damien Pates, 21, of Northolt, serving nine years for the Knightsbridge raid, got an extra two and a half years to serve consecutively.
Khaled Guehis, 25, of Camden, got five years and three months and a youth got five and a half years.
