Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Moped gang jailed for 103 phone thefts
A GANG of moped robbers who snatched ex-chancellor George Osborne’s phone have been jailed.
Leader Claude Parkinson, 18, and two others stole 103 mobiles in 18 days.
They carried a hammer and tyre iron. Mr Osborne was targeted by BBC’S HQ, in Central London, in May.
The trio, all of Islington, North London, admitted robbery. Judge David Tomlinson said at Southwark crown court: “Your willingness to threaten violence showed your offending had spiralled out of control.”
Parkinson got five years, three months. The youths, 15 and 16, got four years, two months in a young offender institution. Samsul Chowdhury, 40, of Bethnal Green, East London, got four years and 10 months, for receiving stolen goods.