A Rotherhithe man has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for his role in a bike theft racket.
Suleyman Akram, 30, was convicted of handling stolen goods after 21 bicycles were recovered from his home.
He has been sentenced along with three others – all part of an organised crime gang that targeted bikes in the City of London.
They included “mastermind” Louey Baldwin, 29, of Orpington, Ryan Boxcer, 32, of Gunner Rise, Shoeburyness, and Gavin McKie, 29, of Hill House Road, Dartford.
DC Matt Cooper, from City of London Police, said the gang stole “thousands of pounds worth of bikes” and there’d been a “significant reduction” in offences since their arrests.
Detectives caught the gang after a bike was stolen in November 2020, and officers tracked it to a warehouse in East London.
City of London Police recovered 57 bikes, with a value of £100,000, as well as bike parts at Express Plant Hire.
CCTV footage also showed bike thieves entering the warehouse daily and some of the defendants were seen on security footage dismantling the bikes.
Baldwin was seen on the footage handing over angle grinders, a tool often used to steal bikes, to the thieves.
Police said that during the gang’s criminal spree in August 2020, there were 68 reported bike thefts in the City.
Last year, on average, there were around 19 bike thefts a month, considerably lower than when the gang was operating.
Police have so far returned more than 20 of the bikes to their owners.
Here are the full sentences for each person:
- Suleyman Akram, 30, of Rotherhithe, has been sentenced to two years and six months.
- Louey Baldwin, 29, of Orpington, has been sentenced to two years and nine months in jail at Inner London Crown Court.
- Ryan Boxcer, 32, of Shoeburyness, has been given a two year suspended sentence.
- Gavin McKie, 29, of Dartford, has been given a ten month suspended sentence.