Gun gang trailed robbery victims

by Justin Davenport Crime Correspondent
A couple were robbed by masked gunmen outside their West End home after apparently being trailed from Harry’s Bar.

Today police warned that the organisation and use of guns in the attack mark a “worrying new level” of robbery in London.

They believe the gang shadowed the couple’s red Daimler after it left Harry’s Bar, and pounced as they got out of the vehicle at their Marylebone home.

The woman, aged 50, had recently come out of hospital and was being helped out of the car by her driver when the thieves ordered the couple to hand over their jewellery.

Her 60-year-old husband was threatened with a gun when he pleaded with the thieves not to hurt his wife. The chauffeur was violently thrown to the ground by a gunman as he tried to stop the woman being hit. Police say at least two of the men had handguns.

Today Det Insp Gary Tuck, who is investigating the attack, said: “This marks a new level of robbery in London. In the past, high-value jewellery robberies have involved mostly opportunistic snatches. The use of guns is a worrying factor, and I cannot see an opportunistic gang coming in balaclavas. This was clearly planned.”

He issued an urgent appeal for witnesses to the attack, saying: “It appears the couple were definitely targeted.”

In recent months, detectives in central London have focused on semi-organised gangs of robbers who have been staking out bars, restaurants and department stores and following victims before striking at a convenient moment.

In the latest attack, the couple had left Harry’s Bar in South Audley Street at 11.15pm last Thursday and were robbed outside their home in Orchard Court, off Portman Square.

Members of the gang ripped a ?100,000 diamond ring from the woman’s fingers and snatched her ?45,000 necklace and her Christian Dior zebra bag, before making their getaway in an old-style Ford Granada saloon car.

Two of the thieves were black. The other two, who lost their balaclavas in the scuffle, were white with shortly cropped brown hair.

The couple were left traumatised by the incident but, although the woman received bruises and scratches to her hand, she did not require hospital treatment.

Police are examining closed-circuit television footage from the area in their hunt for clues to the identity of the thieves.

Anyone with information on the robbery should ring 0171 321 9307 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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? Associated Newspapers Ltd., 24 January 2000
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