Burka-Clad Armed Raiders Face Years In Jail

A notorious gang of smash and grab robbers are facing years in jail for a string of raids at luxury stores across London.

Four of them were found guilty for their part in the robberies on Friday, while five others had already pleaded guilty to their involvement.

The gang carried out 10 raids, including stealing £1.5m of watches from Selfridges department store in June 2013 while dressed in burkas.

There were also two at Prada in Old Bond Street in 2013 when £20,000 of handbags were stolen, and another at Jimmy Choo in 2014 when gang members stole £22,000 worth of handbags.

Another was at Alexander McQueen's warehouse in Islington in November 2007 when laptops, clothing and handbags worth £50,000 were taken.

CCTV of the Selfridges raid was released by police after four gang members were convicted at Kingston Crown Court earlier.

It showed the burka-clad gang using sledgehammers and axes to smash glass cabinets at the shop in Oxford Street, before fleeing on mopeds.

"Untouchable" Reece Dunford, 31, who was involved in every robbery, was caught after hand-picking a team of four to carry out a raid on Mappin and Webb in the City of London in April last year.

The gang, armed with axes and sledgehammers, escaped with over £300,000 worth of Rolex watches, before they were tracked down and arrested.

It was following the arrests that police uncovered the extent of the gang's crimes, dating back to 2007.

Detective Constable Simon Davison, from the Flying Squad, said: "These smash and grabs were aggressive. Sometimes, the robbers threatened innocent people with sledgehammers and axes in order to get to the goods.

"Dunford was involved in every incident in one way or another and clearly started to think he was untouchable."

Dunford, from Essex, built up a reputation for handling high-value stolen goods and sold them on to buyers, including Hatton Garden jeweller Yair Cohen, 71, from Hackney.

The gang will be sentenced at the end of the month. They are:

:: Reece Dunford, of Essex, 31, pleaded guilty to seven counts of conspiracy to handle stolen goods, one count of conspiracy to rob, two counts of conspiracy to burgle and one count of conspiracy to produce Class B drugs.

:: His girlfriend Hollie Dowding, 25, of Waltham Abbey, Essex, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

:: Boz Burbridge, 31, of Camden, David Mays, 33, of Bexley, and Danny St Luce, 29, of Islington, all pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to rob.

:: Yair Cohen, 71, of Hackney, was found guilty of three counts of handling stolen goods, one count of converting criminal property and one count of money laundering and another.

:: Rusudan Kritcheli, 49, from Hackney was found guilty of converting criminal property and one count of money laundering.

:: Vincent Kamara, 28, of Camden, and Patrick Spencer O'Brien, 23, from Islington were both found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery.