When Watches of Switzerland’s flagship London showroom at 155 Regent Street was raided in broad daylight by an armed gang in 2018, they escaped with Rolex watches worth an estimated £440,000.
One of those gang members, Jamie Farrell, was was handed an eight-year prison sentence in July 2018 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of a bladed article.
An accomplice, Wayne Russell, was jailed for four years last week after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery at Southwark Crown Court.
He was also sentenced to 16 months for possession of an offensive weapon, to run concurrently.
Security footage of the raid went viral.
In dramatic footage of the incident, a gang of six were seen riding mopeds into the open entrance of the iconic store at 10.20am.
https://youtu.be/1c6lBbNk2I8
Still wearing black crash helmets and armed with sledgehammers and machetes, they rode one of the mopeds into the shop and used it to jam open the doors.
They immediately headed for the Rolex room where they smashed into five display cases.
Mr Russell guarded the front door armed with a zombie knife so security and members of the public could not intervene.
“This was a brazen robbery which not only left the store significantly out of profit but also left staff fearing for their lives,” said Det Sgt Gary Taylor of the Met Police.
“I hope this result demonstrates our commitment to tackling violent crime and disrupting criminal gangs who think they can get away with this kind of behaviour.
“We will do everything in our power to identify those involved and bring them to justice so that they can cause no further harm on the streets of the capital.”
The remaining four members of the gang have not been caught.
