A modern day Fagin ran gangs of teenage robbers who stole more than £100,000 worth of mobile phones in two weeks, a court heard.
Sammie Govera’s band of crooks included schoolboys, a pensioner who drove a Motability vehicle with a disabled badge and a getaway driver with an eyepatch.
The 32-year-old used social media to recruit and instruct his gang, who carried out a series of raids on phone shops across London.
For six of the raids, teenagers wearing gloves, balaclavas and hoodies stormed into the shops threatening violence to staff as they stuffed their bags with phones.
They demanded access to storerooms full of valuables, throwing punches and manhandling terrified workers.
In just one raid on the Three store in Woolwich, southeast London, the gang snatched £30,000 worth of goods.
In another robbery at a north London branch of the same store, the laundry bag the thieves used to carry stolen phones was so heavy it took two members of the team to carry it.
Sammie Govera used social media to recruit and marshal his young charges, who were signed up to his ‘8.30 am’ Snapchat group
The teenagers demanded access to storerooms full of valuables, throwing punches and manhandling terrified workers in phone stores across London
Govera used a Snapchat group named ‘8.30am’ to direct his gang, and would make frequent trips from his home in Newport, South Wales, to marshal his young charges.
He admitted conspiracy to rob at Croydon Crown Court, and nine other defendants were convicted of similar offences – including four found guilty on Monday.
Thomas Davidson, 72, who appeared in court in a turquoise electric wheelchair, and eyepatch-wearing Saleem Razman, 49, from Manchester, were the gang’s getaway drivers.
Two of the boys who pleaded not guilty appeared in court in their school uniforms, including Louis Pandanzyla, 18, from Havering in east London.
He even admitted wearing his uniform to meet up with other robbers ahead of a raid because he was ‘meant to go to school that day.’
The other boy cannot be named as he is still only 16.
Thomas Davidson, 72, described as the group’s ‘Wheelman,’ drove a Motability Vauxhall Grandland as the getaway car
The vehicle has now been reclaimed by Motability
Eyepatch-wearing Saleem Razman, 49, from Manchester, was another of the gang’s getaway drivers
Some of the crew’s robberies were aborted when a staff member pushed a panic button or if one of the robbers suspected undercover police were operating – shouting the codeword ‘undies’ to alert the others.
Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad eventually snared the gang in an investigation known as Operation Wavesplash.
Some of the crew were arrested on June 7 last year when police stopped the getaway car, a VW Passat, in Balham, southwest London, then snatched the robbers on foot when they fled the vehicle.
Two days later, Govera and three teenagers had been driven by Davidson in his Vauxhall Grandland to an O2 store in Sutton, south London, when police pinned in the vehicle and arrested the group.
Motability, which runs a scheme helping disabled people access cars, later reclaimed the Vauxhall from Davidson.
Louis Pandanzyla, 18, from Havering in east London, appeared in court wearing his school uniform
Since the month after Govera arrived in custody there have been no raids on mobile phone shops in London, Detective Constable Thomas Lockwood of the Flying Squad said.
Detectives discovered the ‘8.30am’ Snapchat group on Govera’s phone, which they were able to access because he had been captured using his passcode to unlock it on CCTV.
DC Lockwood said US-based tech firm Snapchat had ignored requests to help with the investigation.
‘We filed an application to see if there were any email addresses used to set up the Snapchat account,’ he said.
‘We did not hear back from them.’
DC Lockwood added: ‘The Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad will vigorously defend any institutions that suffer robberies and will pursue the individuals who are carrying out these aggressive raids to make easy money.
‘These crimes are terrifying for the victims who come face to face with balaclava-clad violent criminals when they are simply trying to earn an honest living.
‘No one deserves to be menaced, threatened or assaulted by offenders seeking to rob them of goods or money.
‘We are grateful that the jury in this case were able to see through these criminals’ lies and have ensured that justice for their victims and the wider public has been served.’
