11:07am Saturday 20th March 2010
By James Ranger
FOUR members of a gang have been jailed following a daylight robbery in Ilford.
The thieves tried to steal a cash box from a van outside the branch of Alliance and Leicester in Cranbrook Road, Ilford just before 9:30am on March 12 last year.
Five youths were arrested at the scene. Four were jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, while a fifth faces sentencing after an operation by the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad to disrupt organised criminal gangs.
Neeko Brooks 19, of Chabham Road, Stratford was jailed for six years, while a 15-year-old from Barking was given three years and a 16-year-old from Canning Town was sentenced to two years.
All three entered guilty pleas at an earlier hearing.
Nathan Misambu, 19, of Bushy Close, Romford was jailed for five years after he was convicted of conspiracy to rob on February 10, 2010, following a trial.
Meanwhile Fhaizo Mulindwa, 19, of Leytonstone Road, Stratford will be sentenced on April 16, pending pre-sentence reports, after also entering a guilty plea.
During the robbery the 15 and 16 years-olds approached the guard and forced him against a window and then onto the ground, before grabbing the cash box he was delivering to the branch from the van.
Brooks, Mulindwa and Misambu waited in two nearby cars to evade detection, but all five were arrested at the scene.
DI Ralf Kirchel from the Flying Squad said after the sentences: "Today's sentences are the culmination of a successful operation to disrupt organised criminal networks and should serve as a warning to other young men tempted to get involved in this type of crime.
"Brooks, Misambu and Mulindwa specifically exploited two youths, then aged 14, to commit violent crime, recruiting the pair to commit the robbery whilst they sat in a waiting car, distancing themselves and hoping to evade detection.
"The Flying Squad will use every means open to them to investigate commercial robberies and pursue those responsible."
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