Video: Luxury watch robbers caught by elite Met Police squad after botched Mayfair attempt

Four men have been jailed for a series of luxury watch robberies in London’s West End.

The Met Police’s Flying Squad had been monitoring the group alongside the Westminster Robbery Squad after a spate of watch robberies in the area.

The four men were caught when, on August 12 2022, the group were following a 29-year-old man who left a bar in Berkley Square around 2am.

After noticing he was wearing a watch worth £2,000, they followed the man as he got into a taxi home, and once he got out at around 2.20am, they put him into a chokehold and pulled him to the ground.

One of the men tried to take off his watch, but could not work out how to detach the clasp, so the group took off.

The Flying Squad officers followed, and arrested them for robbery shortly after the attack took place.

They were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on April 20 for attempted robbery.

Abukar Aligas, 23, of Holland Road, Brent, Mahamud Gudal, 22, of no fixed address, and Abdikafi Omar, 21, of Buchanan Gardens, Brent, were all sentenced to two years, suspended for two years.

Zakaria Mohammed, 22, of Leghorn Road, Brent, was sentenced to two years and 12 weeks in custody.

Det Sgt Gary Taylor, who led the investigation, said: “I am proud that the proactive work my team does, as demonstrated in this case, resulted in the arrests and the sentencing of these four individuals.

“We are doing everything in our power to ensure London’s streets are safer and that criminals like these are brought to justice. We remain committed to tackling robbery in all its forms.”

The Met Police added it advises anyone seeing a robbery to call 999 immediately, and that people should stay aware of their surroundings, keep valuables out of sigh, and plan their route home.