Weekly Crime Roundup: 22 – 29 May 2012
Amanda Leek, 9:19 pm, Tuesday, 29 May, 2012
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Weekly Crime Roundup: Bringing you the incidents and reports of the last week, with some analysis of bigger stories.
New mobile fingerprint scanners are being rolled out across the Metropolitan Police, enabling police to check a person’s identity in two minutes.
From Wed 23rd May, MobileID will go live across the force as part of a commitment to fight crime with better use of technology. The MobileID is the size of a mobile phone and allows police to read an index finger, checking the prints with the national database, but does not retain them afterwards. The device is only to be used where an individual is suspected of committing an offence or is wanted for an offence.
A total of 350 devices will be deployed over the next month, including the boroughs of Brent, Islington, Camden and Westminster.
National trials using a similar Lantern mobile fingerprint device reported faster identification of perpetrators of crime, increased time on the frontline for police officers and improved levels of public confidence.
Sun 27 May: Riots
Laura Johnson, Exeter University student from Orpington, was found guilty of burglary and handling stolen goods at Greenwich and Charlton during the summer riots. She was sentenced to two years in prison for each count to run concurrently.
During the riots Johnson and Christopher Edwards, 17, Emmanuel Okubote, 20, and another individual, drove around in a 7-hour spree of burglary and theft. A CCTV image shows Johnson smiling at the wheel of her car as they stopped at a petrol station.
When police caught up with them, Johnson put her foot on the accelerator, said Judge Patricia Rees.
Johnson’s defence made reference to her mental health, which she claimed was affected by being raped by two men – an allegation she did not report to the police – and a further claim that she had had a mental breakdown after splitting up with a previous boyfriend.
Thurs 24 May: Hounslow, Ealing
A linked series of burglaries in Hounslow, Ealing and Twickenham are being investigated. It is believed at least 30 residential burglaries have been committed by one person in the three boroughs over the last month.
The suspect targeted flats in blocks owned by professionals at work during the day. The burglaries have often taken place during the day and sometimes a number of properties in a block in one hit. Cash and jewellery has often been stolen from the properties.
The suspect is believed to be a white man, aged mid to late 30s of slim or medium build. He may be using trains or tubes to travel. Officers have released CCTV images of a man they wish to speak to in connection with the investigation.
Hounslow Detective Constable Graham Offield said: “I would like to take this opportunity to raise people’s awareness of how to keep their homes safe. Burglary on the whole is an opportunist crime, with a large number resulting from insecure properties. A burglar will select homes that present the best opportunity for their crime to go undetected and with the fewest obstacles in their way.”
Call CID at Hounslow on 0208 247 6160 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 500 111 with any information.
Wed 23 May: Harrow
Youth football teams from Harrow’s Kodak FC were left devastated when their kits were stolen from their manager’s garden shed at the weekend.
Between Friday 18 – Monday 21 May, four sets of red football shirts and two sets of yellow shirts (approximately 90 shirts) bearing the Kodak FC logo were stolen along with ten bottles of wine and champagne from the shed in Talbot Road, Wealdstone.
Shed owner Paul Whitehead, School Sit Manager at Elmgrove School and volunteer team manager and coach of Kodak FC Under 14s team for the past 14 years, said: “I am dreading having to break the bad news to them at Thursday’s training session. I know they will be absolutely gutted. I think it is absolutely shameful that someone could be so heartless as to steal children’s football kits.”
The wine and champagne had been set aside for Paul and wife Sue’s 25th wedding anniversary later this year.
Call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with any information or if you see the distinctive kits.
Tues 22 May: Willesden
A man was sentenced by Harrow Crown Court to 12 years imprisonment for two violent robberies and assault in Willesden in September 2011.
Lenus Rosil, 32, and two unknown men, forced entry into the home of an 82-year-old woman and physically attacked her and her 48-year-old cleaner. The women were held in one room and the group made threats while searching the house for money and jewellery. During the robbery the victim’s 22-year-old grandson returned home and was violently attacked by the three men as they tried to escape.
The male victim was left with head injuries after being knocked unconscious. The defendant and accomplices fled having stolen over £5,000 of property including items of sentimental value.
Detective Constable Alison Hines in charge of the investigation at Brent Crime Squad said: “This was a sickening cowardly attack committed against victims that the defendant and his accomplices knew would not fight back.”
She added :”The motive for the attack was purely financial gain. The individuals involved displayed no regard for the vulnerability or dignity of their victims.”
Mon 21 May: Dorris Hill
Detectives have arrested a fourth man over the murder of a man at a Dorris Hill pub. A 23-year-old was arrested on suspicion of murder at an address in Wembley, he is in custody pending further enquiries.
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