“Smash-and-grab gang faces prison”

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 05:13 AM PST

Published: Feb. 4, 2011 at 7:56 AM

KINGSTON, England, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Members of a gang of smash-and-grab robbers who targeted jewelry stores in southern England were sentenced to as long as 15 years in prison.

Seventeen members of the group appeared in Kingston Crown Court Thursday with 13 others scheduled for sentencing Friday, The Guardian reported.

Investigators said the group used simple but effective tactics to steal 3.5 million pounds ($5.67 million) in gems in about 16 months. A group of five or six would break in, terrifying customers and employees, grab what they wanted and leave.

At one Bournemouth store, thieves made off with a million pounds ($1.6 million) worth of jewelry in 60 seconds, The Sun said.

Brian O'Neill, the prosecuting lawyer, said the gang lived "in the fast lane," spending most of the proceeds on partying.

While most of the robberies were in London or nearby in southern England, at least one store in Antwerp, Belgium, was targeted. In that raid, an employee was stunned with a stun gun and sprayed with pepper spray.

"The raid was characterized by a serious degree of violence which was vicious and largely gratuitous," Judge Richard Southwell said. "Indeed the safe was locked and you couldn't get into it and there was no need for any violence. All you had to do was depart."

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