Gang does time for theft of £750k-worth of watches

8:29am Thursday 4th September 2008

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Masked robbers who stole more than £750,000 worth of jewellery from two shops in Brent Cross shopping centre have been jailed for a total of more than 37 years.

High-class jewellers Pravin and Fraser Hart were each raided in 2007 and a stash of valuable watches were stolen.

Four men entered ground-floor Pravin on May 6, one of whom threatened staff, claiming he had a gun.

One staff member was dragged into a back room before the robbers kicked open a security door and ransacked the display cabinets and safe.

They escaped in a car waiting outside John Lewis with a haul of watches worth around £200,000.

On May 17, six men with hoods and masks targeted first-floor jeweller Fraser Hart, forcing a member of staff to open a walk-in display cabinet before taking about £566,000 worth of watches.

They ran off through the shopping centre and assaulted security staff, pushing one down an escalator, as they escaped.

Guards caught one robber and were commended for their bravery at a Metropolitan Police award ceremony last July.

The 23-year-old, Nathan Davis, from Streatham, was charged with robbery and sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty.

A spokesman for Brent Cross Shopping Centre said: “The effort of the security guards speaks for itself. Their attention to detail is second to none.”

Davis was part of a gang that carried out robberies across London totalling more than £1 million.

Police said gang members were recruited by Dean Oxley, 30, of no fixed address, who organised the Brent Cross raids. He was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday to 12 years in prison.

Also sentenced for the robberies were Andel Watson, 18, from Brixton, who was given six-and-a-half years imprisonment; Damian Gordon, 26, of no fixed address, was given six years, and Jonathan Odokama, 19, from Streatham, faces seven years in jail.