Bike thieves banged-up for two-wheeled crime spree
Thugs threatened recovery agent in bid to re-steal scooter
‘This puts two criminals behind bars’ PC KATE DENNELL
Two criminals have been sentenced to prison thanks to the Met’s Operation Venice. Alfie Bruynel, 20, and David Curtis, 20, both from London, had previously pleaded guilty to a number of crimes, including vehicle theft.
In one particularly brazen incident in April last year, the pair re-stole a Piaggio they had previously taken as it was being recovered. Once the police had left the scene, Bruynel and Curtis threatened the recovery agent and made off with the scooter. But officers from the Venice team were able to construct a case using CCTV evidence. Each of the men had racked up a sizeable list of offences by the time they were arrested. Curtis was stopped riding a stolen BMW R1200GS while carrying an angle grinder and hammer in November 2019. Bruynel was identified doing wheelies on a stolen Vespa in March 2020.
Both were spotted loading a stolen Ducati into a van in April 2020 and were arrested when the tracker on a stolen Vespa led police to their location in May of the same year.
“This is an excellent result that puts two criminals behind bars,” said PC Kate Dennell, the investigating officer from the Venice squad. “Both have committed multiple crimes and this kind of behaviour has no place on our streets.
“The effects of becoming a victim of theft often last far beyond the replacement of the stolen items. I hope both of these men use this time to realise the impact that their crimes have on the people of London.” Bruynel was sentenced to a total of two years’ imprisonment, as well as an 18-month driving ban, at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday, January 5. Curtis was sentenced to a total of 12 months’ imprisonment at the same court on Friday, January 22. Curtis was also in breach of a suspended sentence and has been sentenced to a further three months in jail - to run consecutively.