Knife-wielding criminal is jailed
Moped-mounted Rolex theft gang member gets four years
‘Staff were left fearing for their lives’
DS GARY TAYLOR, MET POLICE
Aman has been jailed for his part in a mopedenabled smash and grab robbery in London’s Regent Street in 2018. Wayne Russell, 23, of no fixed address, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery at Southwark Crown Court. He was also sentenced to 16 months for possession of an offensive weapon, to run concurrently.
Russell and five other men arrived at a top-end watch shop, Watches of Switzerland, on three mopeds and a motorcycle before using one of the mopeds to block the front doors of the shop. Three of the men then rushed in armed with sledgehammers and attacked five display cases. In total, they stole 35 Rolex watches worth a combined £440,000.
Russell waited outside armed with a ‘zombie knife’ (a large weapon incorporating a bladed edge and a serrated edge – in case you were wondering…) and acted as a lookout, preventing security or members of the public from getting involved.
All six men fled on the vehicles when a security alarm sounded, and were chased by a passing police unit who saw what was happening, but Russell got away.
CCTV from the area showed him removing his gloves, putting his jacket in a bin and then walking into the Five Guys restaurant on Argyll Street. He was later arrested, in 2020, following a media appeal.
“This was a brazen robbery which not only left the store significantly out of profit but also left staff fearing for their lives,” said Detective Sergeant Gary Taylor, from the Metropolitan Police’s Central Specialist Crime unit. “I hope this result demonstrates our commitment to tackling violent crime and disrupting criminal gangs who think they can get away with this kind of behaviour. We will do everything in our power to identify those involved and bring them to justice so that they can cause no further harm on the streets of the capital.”