Jailed: teen mugging gang who hunted like wild dogs

Chilling: G-Block gang members Jordan Rattray and Abdi Nur stare down the camera by the sign of their street, Gearing Close in Tooting, in a photo they posted on the internet
Justin Davenport12 April 2012

Posing with knives and machetes, these are the teenage members of a robbery gang that brought terror to London commuters.

The eight-man gang — known as G-Block — used sticks, hammers and mallets in six months of attacks on up to 100 people walking home. The judge who jailed them today described the gang as "a pack of wild dogs".

They singled out professionals and often picked on lone women. One woman was nearly choked to death when the gang stamped on her chest and stood on her throat.

Victims were subjected to "severe" violence, with many punched and kicked before the gang, who hid their faces in scarves, hoods and masks from the horror film Scream, took their belongings including phones and iPods.

After the attacks some of the gang boasted of the assaults on MSN and social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook while the gang leader used MSN to give post-robbery "pep talks" to the younger members.

The robbers, aged from 13 to 17, posted images of themselves on the internet posing with knives and weapons outside Gearing Close in Tooting, where three lived, taking photos with mobile phones stolen from their victims.

Detectives were struck by the gang's violence — most of the group had never been in trouble.

Today eight were jailed at Kingston crown court after admitting more than 50 robberies. Judge Nicholas Price QC said: "You set out in packs hunting for

vulnerable victims, intent on seeking out your prey, treating them without mercy." Police think there were up to 100 attacks in Tooting Bec and Wandsworth from July to December 2007. The gang leader is an 18-year-old with a history of violence who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Today Det Sgt Phil Booth, of Wandsworth robbery squad, said: "Their parents had no idea that their teenagers were involved in this kind of lifestyle.

"The savagery their attacks quickly gravitated to was absolutely shocking and it is extremely lucky they did not have more serious consequences."

Heather Norton, prosecuting, earlier told the court that 57 robberies could be linked to the gang. She said: "The

violence used against the victims of G-Block was frequently excessive, severe and shocking."

The crime spree ended when two gang members were identified by a couple who were robbed as they walked home from a bar in a Wandsworth. Following the arrests offences in the area dropped by more than 160 in six months.

The gang were jailed for a total of 32 years with the ringleader given seven. Peter Hyatt, 18, was jailed for four and a half years, Jerome Blake, 15, for four, Abdi Nur, 18, four, Akheem Gray, 17, four, Ameel Gray, 16, three and a half, Jordan Rattray, 17, two years, and Lufter Ahmed, 19, three years.

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