Sentenced: Men from Stonebridge and Neasden who took part in £20k theft at Kensington M&S
M&S in Kensington High Street (Pic credit: Google) - Credit: Archant
Two Brent men have been sentenced for their role in a thieving plot which involved M&S night-workers repositioning a CCTV camera to smuggle £20,000 of goods out of a store.
Anton Lewis, 26, of Braemar Avenue, Neasden, and Rene Mills, 23, of Conduit Way, Stonebridge, teamed up with Ilyas Ali, 21, and Ishmael Ali, 22, to steal lingerie, menswear, and shoes during two night-shifts at the store on Kensington High Street.
Southwark Crown Court heard Lewis, a warehouse supervisor at the store, helped to pick out merchandise they could later sell for profit and his cousin Mills joined the trio on one occasion after telling them of his ‘dire financial situation’.
Prosecutor Nicholas Wayne said: “These events came to light because of the vigilance of a CCTV operator.
“She observed that a static camera had been moved.
“She thought this was suspicious and decided to check back through the footage from the previous day, which was May 10.
He continued: “Further investigation led to her identifying all four defendants being present in the store after it had closed to customers.”
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Footage from May 3 showed the gang had been gathering in the store after closing hours at 7.13pm and left two hours later.
Judge Anthony Leonard told the four men: “You have all planned and executed thefts which even involved angling a camera to try to prevent what you were doing being recorded.”
Lewis was spared jail after the court head he cares for his 14-year-old son who has the mental age of four.
He was given a suspended sentence, ordered to carry out community work and has been placed on a curfew. Mills was jailed for seven month and both Alis, who live in Wandsworth, were sentenced to nine months.
All four admitted theft.
