Three men who stole more than £30,000 during a spate of robberies across north east London have been jailed for a total of 21 years.
Snaresbrook Crown Court today heard Richard Agyemang, Martin Danquah and Nana Wallace targeted supermarkets, cash points and petrol stations in the area - including some in Walthamstow – over a 12-month period.
The three were caught following an investigation by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Flying Squad.
They investigated 23 cash in transit robberies committed between August 2008 and July last year.
A store in Walthamstow was among those targeted, as well as premises in Stratford, Canning Town, Ilford, Barking, Tottenham, Plaistow, Chadwell Heath, Richmond and Hounslow.
The robbers stole a cashbox from The 99p Shop, High Street, Walthamstow at about 10.30am on October 2, 2008.
On each occasion the robbers targeted security guards as they made deliveries during the early hours of the morning.
They concealed their faces and rushed the guards, taking their cash boxes before fleeing in a waiting vehicle.
Weapons were not seen or used but guards were injured and detectives later recovered firearms during the investigation.
Detective Inspector Ralf Kirchel said: "The arrest and conviction of these men has resulted in a reduction in cash in transit robberies in north east London.
“The investigation leading to their arrests was protracted requiring expertise, diligence and determination to prevent the spread of criminality to younger and more vulnerable members of the community."
Agyemang, 21, of Alfred Road, Westbourne Green was jailed for seven years nine months Danquah, 19, of Woolwich Manor Way, Beckton was sentenced to six-and-a-half years and Wallace, 20 of Leamington Gardens, Ilford received a seven-year term.
Danquah was also handed a concurrent sentence of two-and-a-half years for possession with intent to supply heroin.
The three were jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court after pleading guilty on January 4 to conspiracy to commit cash in transit robberies.
Agyemang admitted all 23 offences, while Danquah and Wallace pleaded guilty to eight offences.
A fourth man, Muanza Da Silva, 22, of Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 21 September 2009 to two offences of conspiracy to commit cash in transit robberies and was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.
He was also convicted of an another eight offences committed independently between October and November 2008.
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