Three members of an organised criminal gang who stole more than £300,000 of watches during nearly identical jewellery heists in Manchester and London have been jailed.
Alex Parle, (born 27/12/1992) of Adams Garden Estate, London, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to robbery and threatening a person with a bladed article and was jailed for nine years at the Old Bailey this week.
Thomas Henry O’Connor, (born 30/6/1992) of Swan Road, London, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to robbery.
He was jailed for 12 years and six months.
Conor Gartland, (born 25/07/1997) of Druid Street, London, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to robbery.
He was jailed for eight years.
The conviction was a result of a joint investigation between the City of London Police, Greater Manchester Police and the Metropolitan Police Service, looking into several robberies in London and Manchester between 15th February 2014 and 23rd January 2015.
The raid in Manchester took place at 4.11pm on Thursday 15th January 2015, when Alex Parle and Conor Gartland used a sledgehammer to break open the front door of the Cheshire Watch Company on King Street West.
Once inside, they used the hammer to smash their way into the display cabinet and grabbed eight watches, worth a total of £165,000.
No customers were in the shop at the time, and no members of staff were harmed, though three Rolex watches and five Cartier watches were stolen during the raid.
The pair fled on a stolen, silver Honda moped, which has since been found abandoned in the car park of the Grosvenor Casino on Ramsgate Street.
Upon trawling through the CCTV images from the casino, officers released images of Conor Gartland in a bid to try and trace him.
It is known that Thomas Henry O’Connor was involved in this robbery, as he booked the hotel room where Gartland and Parle stayed in Pilsworth, Bury, in his name.
Days later, on 22 January 2015, the City of London Police were alerted to reports of a smash and grab robbery taking place at the Carr Jewellers on Liverpool Street, London.
Just after 2.30pm three men riding two stolen mopeds stopped outside the jewellers. One of the suspects struck the glass door using a solid rubber block to gain access to the shop.
Two of the men then entered the store with sledgehammers breaking into two display cabinets and placed several Rolex, Piquet and Omega watches valued at £144,869 into a black rucksack.
Parle, the tallest of the group remained outside as the lookout. The other two men then exited the store and mounted back onto the mopeds to make their escape.
An unmarked police vehicle attempted to block their escape by parking in front of the mopeds. This caused them to move out of the way to avoid being stopped and as a result prevented Parle from jumping onto the back of one of the mopeds.
Parle was then grabbed by a member of the public, who was subsequently threatened with a machete.
He was followed to Gravel Lane by a police officer where he was arrested and the machete was later recovered.
Other evidence was found at Parle’s home address which revealed a receipt for the purchase of two sledgehammers and a pair of gloves.
Following the robbery on Liverpool Street, further police enquiries led to O’Connor as having been involved in the robberies in London and Manchester.
Detective Constable Neil Saxon said: “This conviction is a superb result and a testament to a successful working partnership between the Greater Manchester and City of London Police forces.
“These men committed very similar robberies at stores in Manchester and London, and it was the bravery of a member of the public in London which allowed officers to track down one of the men responsible.
“That member of the public placed himself in harm’s way to try and apprehend one of the men, and that act allowed a City of London officer to trace Parle and apprehend him.
“It was then that the partnership working between GMP and the City of London really kicked into gear, and within a couple of months the men were in custody.
“This result demonstrates that no matter how far people travel to commit their crimes, the police forces across the country are capable of working together, tracking them down and ensuring they face justice for the crimes they commit.”
