Seven men linked to a smash-and-grab criminal network stole more than £146,000 worth of watches, artwork, and designer goods from high-end London stores between May and August 2025, a court has heard.
The robbers employed sledgehammers, bricks, and a Ford Fiesta to force entry into multiple luxury outlets. Officials from the politan Police have connected the series of offenses to a single group operating near Paddington in west London.
The Defendants and Sentencing
Christopher Gibbs, 43; George O’Hare, 42; Paul Hughes, 42; Anthony Munday, 40; Lee James McCready, 46; Matthew Windrass, 50; and David Rigelsford, 37, remain in custody awaiting sentencing on March 17.
Key Raids and Techniques
One brazen daytime robbery targeted Suttons and Robertsons on Edgware Road, where thieves stole nearly £60,000 in watches and jewelry. CCTV footage captured two balaclava-clad men, later identified as McCready and Windrass, smashing the storefront with sledgehammers. They grabbed items through the shattered windows before fleeing to a silver Jaguar driven by Munday.
William Sneddon, prosecuting, stated: “On seeing the two males leave via the store’s security cameras, Mr Keaney (the store manager) exited the store. A large crowd had gathered, and a lot of people were filming. He assessed that around five watches and some jewellery items, valued at a minimum of £59,930.00, had been stolen. The whole incident lasted approximately nine minutes.”
Kane Sharpe, defending Munday, noted: “The sledgehammers were not carried as weapons but as tools, to carry out what was essentially a smash-and-grab burglary.”
In a separate incident, Gibbs, O’Hare, and Hughes rammed a Ford Fiesta through the doors of a Fendi store on Sloane Street. They seized designer handbags and escaped on a motorbike and silver Mercedes.
Gibbs also used a paving block to break into Clarendon Fine Art, stealing two framed artworks worth £66,500 alongside an unidentified accomplice.
Scope of the Crimes
The group completed five successful burglaries from May to July 2025 using similar smash-and-grab methods, totaling £146,356 in stolen goods. Two attempts failed at an apothecary in Marylebone and a watch shop in Westminster.
McCready, from Uxbridge, participated while on license for a 2005 murder conviction. Rigelsford, from Kilburn, faced additional convictions for a hotel robbery, two car thefts, and an attempted rucksack theft from a vehicle.
Arrests
Authorities arrested Gibbs, McCready, Windrass, O’Hare, and Munday during coordinated raids on August 5, 2025. Hughes and Rigelsford followed on September 29, 2025.
