Blog Crime Reports

A pair of violent Londoners who mugged teenagers for their phones in a pretty Suffolk seaside town have been jailed for over six years.

Muhamadu Conte, 20, and Isaiah Lester, 18, were sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday, April 20 after pleading guilty to three counts of robbery and two counts of attempted robbery.

Conte of Lancaster Drive, Havering, was given two years and 11 months, while Lester of Cranberry Close, Ealing, was handed two years and seven months.

Lester also got 18 months for unrelated drugs offences including intent to supply class A drugs - to be served consecutively - making a total sentence of four years and one month.

The robberies were all committed on August 30 2022 when the balaclava clad twosome approached a pair of teenagers in a park off Raglan Street in Lowestoft at around 9pm.

They threatened them, searched their pockets, and demanded their phones. The victims offered what they had but the suspects weren't satisfied and threatened them with injury if they didn't give them a better phone.

Source (my London)

Man had his phone stolen when he was punched in the face immediately after entering a station in north London.

The violent attack happened at Kentish Town West at 10 pm on March 15.

The victim entered the station and was approached by a man who punched him in the face and snatched his phone.

British Transport Police have released images of a man they wish to speak to who may have information that could help with their investigation.

Witnesses, or anyone with information, can contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 668 of 15 March

Man had his phone stolen when he was punched in the face immediately after entering a station in north London.

The violent attack happened at Kentish Town West at 10 pm on March 15.

The victim entered the station and was approached by a man who punched him in the face and snatched his phone.

British Transport Police have released images of a man they wish to speak to who may have information that could help with their investigation.

Witnesses, or anyone with information, can contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 668 of 15 March

A car got stolen yesterday at 17:14 pm right outside our house in Pershore Worcestershire.

The car is a matte black Mercedes G class c63 number plate is - LY19 FWM. by 2 Asian males.

They also had another car right at the bottom of my house that was involved with the person robbing it

Gauteng police arrested more than 1700 suspects over the long weekend and recovered 65 unlicensed firearms.

Suspects were arrested during operations and routine police stop and search in various parts of the province.

The perpetrators were found to have committed serious and violent crimes such as murder, attempted murder, robbery, car hijacking, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, rape, fraud, and theft. Diligent and intelligent police observation during routine patrols led to the discovery of most firearms.

Police believe these are the firearms that are used during the commission of serious and violent crimes in the province.

President of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), Alistair Alexander, is calling for more practical stakeholder involvement in combating praedial larceny than mere words in pieces of legislation.
He told Barbados TODAY that because crop theft is a well-organised crime, he believes some supermarkets may unknowingly also be buyers of the stolen items.
He said BARVEN believed that while it is customary for vendors to be searched and targeted for stolen goods and produce, the time had come for all those who receive these crops through illegitimate means to be prosecuted.
“I have seen it happen where police come into the market and approach the situation as if all of us are involved. They have to target persons they suspect, not coming and ask every vendor where they get their produce because they are not going to go and ask every supermarket where they get their produce.
“It is organised crime and they go to establishments where they can easily get quick money, which are the supermarkets and such like.
“It will be important to be able, through surveillance, to trace where these people are carrying this produce and if there are particular vendors who they are carrying them to, that the authorities can prosecute and make examples of the receivers. he said.
Last week, small farmer Anthony Charles lamented that $2 000 worth of cassava was stolen from his farm in Ebenezer, St Philip, while there were reports of a field of sugarcane belonging to a private farmer being attacked by thieves.
A few days later, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir told Barbados TODAY that the Protection of Agricultural Products Act 2022 was proclaimed on Monday and will help farmers to protect their produce from thieves
Weir said the legislation was long overdue, and he was satisfied that it properly represented the best interest of farmers whom he said were key in the creation of the document.
The Act provides for fines of up to $100 000, imprisonment for five years, or both. Before this, the maximum fine was $5 000.
The minister also indicated that the law reactivated Operation Bird’s Eye which allows for a partnership between the Barbados Police Service and the Barbados Defence Force to patrol targeted areas and carry out investigations.
Alexander said he had his reservations regarding whether the legislation would be effective, considering that the majority of the time persons selling stolen crops present themselves as legitimate farmers.
“They may be legitimate as far as they are farmers, but the produce that they carry may be illegally obtained. I think that we need to sit at the round table and really thrash out this thing. It calls for serious discussions and BARVEN can then put in measures that we think can help. If we collectively do this thing I believe that we can get it done because if you have a hole in the bucket the water will still fall through,” he said.
Alexander added: “There must be some kind of serious brainstorming on how to deal with this situation. All the different stakeholders need to come up with some type of mechanism to stop it.
“Much of what I have heard like legislation and such like, from our own intelligence, we know that there are some farmers who are involved in praedial larceny and therefore that person can write a bill of receipt as a legitimate farmer.”
Meanwhile, the president insisted that BARVEN continues to hold a zero-tolerance approach towards members purchasing produce suspected to be stolen.
He said he would even go as far as to describe crop theft as a capital offence which threatens food security on the island.
“Security of course is the lifeline of a people. And when you have a situation where farmers are discouraged from farming because their hard labour, all that they have put in, somebody just in one night come and rob them of their produce and their livelihood, is a serious thing that can discourage farmers and cause people to go out of production, threatening food security,” he said.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/03/18/crop-theft-an-organised-crime-barven/

A Bridgetown store owner is counting several thousands of dollars in losses following a daring break-in at a City business earlier this week..

In an interview with Barbados TODAY manager of MOH Electronics Jamar Peters confirmed that the robbery took place at the Tudor Street branch between 1:20 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. last Sunday from March 18th.

He said the store owner was out of the island and he was alerted to the robbery around 11 a.m. when someone from another store in the same building contacted him.

Peters could not give the dollar value of the items stolen but he said about 40 to 50 high-end items including refurbished and new cell phones, laptops and tablets were taken.

The store manager said he believed the store was targeted and the robbers, who he said appeared to be young men, were very familiar with the store.

“They knew what they were coming for, it seems they came in the store previously. The way the break-in occurred, we were targeted. The landlord didn’t even know that the building was built in such a way that the robbery could be done, at that point in time,” he said.

“They entered from the staircase. There was a slim opening between the staircase that was wall and wood so they found the exact part where the wood was and it was like the old time concrete board and they broke in. I don’t know how they knew this information, I can just assume. I feel like they were close to the building.

They broke the glass with tape and climbed through the glass.

“The guys also looked pretty young in the footage and the way they were moving the cameras it looked like they had done this before. They were very calm. There were six cameras and the first thing they did was move the cameras but the two that captured them, they didn’t see those.”

Peters said the police were investigating the matter, noting they had already downloaded a copy of the footage, a part of which was circulated on social media.

The video showed two masked men, one in a hoodie, jumping through a section of the store and stealing the items.

When Barbados TODAY visited the store earlier this week, business was being conducted as usual and there was police presence.

During the interview, the store manager also appealed to Barbadians to be more cautious in these times.

“I would like to encourage everyone, not just store owners, to be more vigilant because times have changed. Crime is higher, it is in plain sight. Bridgetown generally should have more lighting. When you travel the world and you go to someone’s capital the major streets always have lighting, bright lights.”

He added that this was not the first time MOH Electronics was hit by thieves.

In 2021 the branch in Spooner’s Hill, St Michael was robbed twice. (SZB)

https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/03/18/businessman-urges-greater-cautions-as-store-attempts-to-recover-after-daring-robbery/

Lawmen are investigating separate incidents which left two people nursing wounds on Wednesda

According to the Barbados Police Service’s Public Relations Officer Inspector Rodney Inniss, around 12.50 pm, a 30-year old man reported that he had been shot in his stomach by another man, whilst at the National Botanical Gardens in an area near to the Combermere School.

He was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by ambulance to undergo surgery and was said to be in critical, but stable, condition.

The assailant reportedly walked away from the scene in the company of a female and three children.

Meanwhile, around 3:15 p.m., a man armed with a knife entered the Black Rock, St. Michael branch of the Channell Supermarket and stole a sum of money from a cashier as she opened the register. A security guard intervened to stop the perpetrator’s escape and was injured before the man fled the scene on foot.

The guard was treated by two medical doctors who visited the scene and then transported to the QEH for further medical attention. His injuries are said to be ‘not serious’.

The Barbados Police Service is asking anyone who may have witnessed or have any knowledge of either of these incidents to contact the District “A” Police Station at 430-7242, Police Emergency at 211 or any police station. (JB)

https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/04/13/two-injured-in-shooting-robbery-incidents/

On April 29th 2023:

Law enforcement has apprehended a 60-year-old man from Grey Hill after he allegedly attempted to rob a superette on Desouza Road.

According to reports, the suspect threatened the cashier with a weapon around 5 pm today but was disarmed by a nearby individual who intervened. The suspect was then detained until police arrived.

Upon examination, it was discovered that the weapon in question was a BB-GUN, and authorities have speculated that the suspect may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The individual who apprehended the suspect is being praised as a hero.

The police are currently investigating the incident.

Commission battles frequent breach of facilities, loss of equipment, cutting off customers from supply.

NWC staff conducting an operation to clamp down on water theft in St Catherine in February 2022.

Vandals have been tampering with National Water Commission (NWC) systems, sometimes stealing pieces of critical equipment, causing disruption to the company's operations for hours and even days at a time.

In one of the latest attacks, thieves made off with equipment used to operate pumping stations in the southern parts of the island.

Delano Williams, acting corporate public relations manager at the NWC, told The Gleaner that the New Forest water supply system in St Elizabeth is often targeted by people who force access through a fence and illegally shut down the pump in a bid to use welding and torch equipment to puncture the pipes and fabricate illegal connections.

He said that despite the several million gallons of water that the station outputs, the NWC had been receiving complaints that the commodity was not reaching the taps of registered customers, which cause the company to realise there was a problem.

“After our [investigations], we had detected and removed over 86 illegal connections, ranging from half-inch to one-inch lines. We've also pulled up from our network over 500 metres of pipelines,” he said, noting that many of these connections ran into several parts of the community, primarily in the Bull Savannah and Duff House areas.

“What we are finding is that they are becoming even more brazen in their efforts to access the pump that is running at high pressures of over 100 PSI (pounds per square inch), sometimes 200 PSI in instances,” he said.

RISKY

Williams said there were two such instances discovered within the last month, adding that they not only pose a risk to the commission's equipment and its ability to supply its customers but also could endanger NWC employees.

Over in Hanberry, Clarendon, which primarily supplies Longville Park Phase 3 and other nearby areas, the electrical components, including wires, were also stolen off the pumps.

“These are very critical wires that run our operation and that we rely on heavily to run our pumps, to run our motors, and to distribute water supply. So, it is almost a cowardly but selfish act in whatever value they may think [is there],” Williams said.

“Once you have this kind of thing, you literally have to rewire the component box or sometimes rewire some aspect of the plant, depending on the level of damage that is caused by the vandalism,” he added.

The NWC was able to restore service in 24 hours in that instance.

The NWC was unable to provide The Gleaner with an estimate of the damage done to its systems by vandals and thieves as it is still quantifying the losses. However, Williams said that the electrical equipment found at most sites cost several hundred thousand dollars, and in some areas, the cost of repairs surged into the millions with some replacement parts having to be imported.

Williams referenced the 2015 vandalism incident at the Goshen Pen pumping station in St Catherine, which forced the NWC to install electric fencing in an effort to safeguard the facility.

“Some of our facilities, by the very nature of where the water sources are, whether they are well or river sources, they are in somewhat underpopulated or in remote areas, and while we take great pains to fence them [and] to have guards in some instances, it is difficult to prevent persons from accessing them at different times,” he explained.

He could not say whether the state agency was considering the installation of more electric fences in the problem areas.

“We have lost, in instances, over three million gallons on an average day because of these illegal connections,” said Williams.

He noted that in some instances, several illegal water lines ran hundreds of metres into different farms, which were not using drip irrigation but instead had the water spraying out constantly even during heavy rainfall, “sucking our main pipeline dry”.

Although there have been no arrests in any of the locations mentioned, Williams stated that the NWC has ramped up its monitoring activities and is prepared to pursue the matter to the fullest extent to have offenders prosecuted.

“When we got to the plant, there was no one on the scene but the police are continuing their investigation ... ,” he told The Gleaner.

Williams appealed to residents and business owners located near NWC facilities to assist in alerting the commission or the police if they see anyone trying to gain unlawful access to its plants.

A man accused of breaking into a car and stealing money has been charged by the police.

He is 45-year-old Craig Talbot, a vendor of Phase 1 Seaview Gardens Housing Scheme, St Andrew, who is charged with simple larceny.

The alleged incident happened along Ocean Boulevard in Kingston on Friday, April 21.

Reports from the Central police are that about 2 p.m., a man locked his motor car and went to conduct business.

Upon his return, he reportedly saw a man exiting his vehicle and entering a Toyota Corolla motor car, which sped away from the scene.

He checked his vehicle and reportedly discovered that money which he had withdrawn from a bank earlier was missing.

The man contacted the police and the car was intercepted by a team from the St Andrew South Police Division with Talbot and another man aboard.

The police say the vehicle and both men were searched and over $350,000 along with cell phones were found inside the vehicle.

They say the man later identified Talbot as the person he saw exiting his car.

Talbot was arrested and charged and is slated to face the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Friday, April 28.

Loop News March 3, 2023 

Detectives in St Catherine South have confirmed that a person of interest is in their custody in relation to the robbery and murder in Portmore Pines, St. Catherine on Monday, February 27.

The police believe that the man has information that may be able to assist with their investigations.

The man was taken into custody on Thursday, March 02 during an operation in Hellshire, St. Catherine, and a firearm along with ammunition was seized.

More information will be provided as soon as it becomes available.

Police report that criminals got away with about $10 million in cash in a daring mid-morning robbery, in which a security guard was killed and two others injured.

Reports are that security guards were delivering money to an ATM in Portmore Pines Plaza, in St Catherine, when men in a white Subaru motor car pulled up and opened fire hitting both guards.

The men then escaped the area. The injured guards were rushed to the hospital where one succumbed to injuries.

ARREST: 5 Men (4 Iegall) arrested for dealing and trading in illegal drugs in Brakpan , Ekurhuleni.

Recovered: suspected stolen property, a firearm, live rounds and a blue light.