Armed robber used Gumtree to find victims

TEENAGER THREATENED SELLERS WITH A KNIFE

AN 18-YEAR-OLD from Hayes will spend the next eight years behind bars after he admitted setting up meetings with unsuspecting Gumtree sellers before robbing them at knife point.

Abdullahi Ahmed, of Central Avenue, used the popular classifieds ads website to arrange to meet sellers before threatening them with weapons and stealing the products he expressed interest in buying.

In the space of three weeks in spring he robbed six people, including a woman who was threatened with a knife in her own home.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery and one count of theft at Harrow Crown Court on Friday August 31 and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.

The young thug was brought to justice after the incidents were reported separately to Metropolitan Police and officers used phone records to piece events together.

Abdullahi Ahmed, 18, pleaded guilty after robbing six sellers in the space of three weeks - including a woman who was threatened with a knife in her own home

In the space of three weeks,from April 1 to 20 this year, Ahmed robbed six unsuspected Gumtree sellers after he contacted them to say he was interested in buying their products, including a pair of shoes, a phone and laptop.

Ahmed first struck on April 1 when he arranged to meet a man in Hounslow on the pretence of buying two pairs of designer shoes.

However as the victim returned to his car to retrieve the products, he turned around to find Ahmed armed with a knife who then threatened the seller and ran off with the shoes.

Eight days later Ahmed robbed a phone from a prospective seller from a different website in Ealing who he later rang up from the stolen phone to “gloat”.

The following day a woman fell victim to the teenager’s stealing spree when she met him at her house in Bow, east London.

This time Ahmed was accompanied by a male friend and the female victim was threatened at knife point in her home and her phone was stolen.

On April 12, the serial robber met a man who was selling a laptop in Hayes. On this occasion Ahmed handed o ver £1,100 to the victim but forced his way into the seller’s car before threatening him with a knife and making off with both the laptop and the cash.

Ahmed intimidated another seller in Uxbridge who was selling a phone on April 14 and robbed a female victim of a phone at knifepoint in Barnet on April 20.

All the offences were reported to police and officers began to piece together the events, Metropolitan Police stated.

Through analysis of phone records and the victims’ testimonies Ahmed was identified as a suspect and he was arrested at his home address on April 27– just one week after his last armed robbery.

All of the stolen items were recovered from his house as well as a phone officers established had been used to contact all the victims to arrange meetings.

“Ahmed used threats of violence to intimidate and rob his victims of their property,” said detective constable Huss Ahmed of Barnet CID who led the investigation.

“His actions have had a devastating impact on some of his victims. I can only hope that this sentence provides some comfort to them.”

A Gumtree spokeswoman said: “We take the safety of our users extremely seriously and we are pleased to see the perpetrator of these appalling crimes brought to justice.

“Our dedicated Safety Team works closely with the police to share information and support their investigations.

“We list prominent safety advice for users on every ad on our website, a summary of which can be found at help. gumtree.com.”

Abdullahi Ahmed, 18, has been jailed after pleading to robbing six Gumtree sellers at knifepoint