Thread: With impunity!

Daylight robbery: Schoolboy gang in rush-hour raid on West End watch store

Young and brazen, they gather on one of London's smartest shopping streets to carry out an audacious daylight robbery.



One baby-faced raider, sledgehammer in hand, stares menacingly at the camera, apparently young enough to be a schoolboy.



Others keep watch from behind balaclavas, hooded tops and motorcycle helmets as another gang member attempts to break into the Watches of Switzerland store on Old Bond Street, Mayfair, after smashing the glass door.

Their target was thousands of pounds worth of designer Swiss timepieces.

Onlookers watched in fascinated horror as the raid took place during rush-hour on Friday morning when the area was teeming with shoppers and workers heading to their offices.

The attempted raid demonstrates how violent robberies are increasingly being carried out by children, rather than hardened criminal gangs.

Had it not been half-term, the gang might well have been spending their Friday morning in the classroom.

One eyewitness said: 'I heard a series of incredibly loud bangs and turned round to see these guys sledgehammering a door.

'I saw people running away in different directions and screaming.

'It was broad daylight and the streets were full of people, but they did not care. They had no regard for circumstance or law, they had no fear.

'The audacity of it was astonishing. They kept banging at the door.

'You could tell by the way they were holding their bodies that they were just children.

'The one with the yellow sledgehammer kept hesitating. Even though he was bold as brass, he was just a young kid and there was a hint of lack of confidence in what he was doing.'

The raiders, who struck at 9.26am, managed to smash the glass door but were foiled by metal security shutters inside it.

Had they consulted the store's opening hours they might have realised the shutters would be down until opening time at 10am.

The thwarted gang - three of whom were riding getaway motorbikes - tried to vent their frustration on the photographer who took these pictures. The photographer said:

'I was standing 60ft away and there was a horrible moment when they turned round and were all staring at me.

'Then they turned the bikes towards me and came for me, and I turned and ran.

'I went into a building with a woman who was screaming and we shut the door behind us. Luckily it was strong enough to withstand their attempts to get in.

'I could hear a lot of banging outside and I was shaking,' said the photographer. 'Then they just went away.'

'The whole time I was there not a single policeman was in sight, nor a siren to be heard,' the photographer added.

'This country is obsessed with having community support officers with few powers, but why haven't we got more proper police officers around when something like this happens?'

One of the gang's scooters bore a Spanish number plate, but police were unable to say whether it had been stolen.

The Metropolitan Police appealed for witnesses. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'It was an attempted smash and grab.

'They approached on bikes and smashed a glass door. No arrests have been made at the moment.'

A police source said there was a trend for gangs to target designer boutiques selling small high-value items, because electronic goods such as computers and mobile phones were much harder to sell on.

Daylight robbery: Schoolboy gang in rush-hour raid on West End watch store | Mail Online

Can't see clearly if it's a kid but looks like. Anyway, I've read elsewhere that some crims start early, or are even put in the front line by the older ones, because they cannot be prosecuted and the worst that can happen to them for breaking a few windows or heads is a jolly good ticking off.

They'd soon take off their helmets shouting that police are not allowed to hurt kids, if SWAT turned up on the scene with more lethal weapons than a sledgehammer.

I say set BG loose on them, with a belt, and haul their parental asses to court. Even if they are kids, they're old enough to know they can hurt but also get hurt pulling these stunts.

I say set BG loose on them, with a belt, and haul their parental asses to court.

BG would be a go ,

however would the parents not be in court if they administered corporal punishment ?

there be the root cause .

Substitute an AK-47 for the belt and it might make an impression on the next group of "child robbers" who think this is acceptable behavior...

Originally Posted by Mid

I say set BG loose on them, with a belt, and haul their parental asses to court.

BG would be a go ,

however would the parents not be in court if they administered corporal punishment ?

there be the root cause .

Precisely, they've been getting progressively softer in the head since the invention of political correctness.

Jesus, what a badly written load of old crap....

Originally Posted by NickA

Jesus, what a badly written load of old crap....

Yeah, I was never much on the bible.

And, amazingly, they weren't muslims.

Arm the over 50's I say, Let citizens uphold the Law.

Originally Posted by pickel

And, amazingly, they weren't muslims.

Oh but if the muzzies hadnt stolen their jobs and welfare cheques the british kids wouldnt have needed to do this.

I thought all the CCTV/Survaillance and the invading of peoples rights was supposed to detur this kind of thuggery!

Originally Posted by NickA

Jesus, what a badly written load of old crap....

For sure. I say, eat the rich.

Full points to the brazen little punks for originality.

And full points for the photographers courage in taking the pics.

I saw somewhere on the net (maybe in a post here?), that cops in someplace are requesting the public to take photos and videos of crimes in progress using their mobile phones. Sounds like a good idea if done from a safe position.

Isn't London chock-a-block with 'civilian' spy cams on every bladdy corner...?

Originally Posted by kingwilly

Oh but if the muzzies hadnt stolen their jobs and welfare cheques the british kids wouldnt have needed to do this.

Where does it say they are British or mention their religion?

These wee fannies don't have the gumption or the smarts to become real criminals.

They'll be caught, locked up in YO and that will be the end of their illustrious criminal careers, to emerge as petty drug dealers and council estate chavs.

I sure hope that's a stolen license plate.

Originally Posted by SnotGoblin

Arm the over 50's I say, Let citizens uphold the Law.

Careful, Jet and Blackgang are over 50 . . .

Me too PH, wouldn't that be a great force, Jet, BG and I?

The mind boggles

^ But you're not a raving loony

Originally Posted by panama hat

^ But you're not a raving loony

*EDIT*

Originally Posted by panama hat

^ But you're not a raving loony

Jet? Definitely. But poor old BG....he has his moments. How about 'eccentric'?

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Originally Posted by panama hat

^ But you're not a raving loony

Jet? Definitely. But poor old BG....he has his moments. How about 'eccentric'?

Ok, we'll call the old fart 'eccentric' . . . though eccentricity has boundaries . . . and our Zimmerframe-Uncle has none. (I must admit to smirking at his colourful phrases at times . . )

Originally Posted by panama hat

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Originally Posted by panama hat

^ But you're not a raving loony

Jet? Definitely. But poor old BG....he has his moments. How about 'eccentric'?

Ok, we'll call the old fart 'eccentric' . . . though eccentricity has boundaries . . . and our Zimmerframe-Uncle has none. (I must admit to smirking at his colourful phrases at times . . )

Check out KW's dedication thread to BG!