Eight women were attacked after being stalked in the “nappy valley” area of Battersea and Clapham, and around the Fulham Road. One victim was seven months pregnant and had a 17-month-old child in a pushchair. Most of the women were strangled from behind with a potentially fatal grip before being forced to the ground. Once down and fighting unconsciousness in front of their screaming children, rings worth up to £50,000 were prised from their fingers.Hmm. Apparently the kit was sold in Hatton Garden, whose famously naive jewellers would never be suspicious of a young black guy wanting to unload ten thousand quids worth of sparklers at a bargain price.
One gang member, 26-year-old Perrie Williams, even applied for an emergency loan to boost his benefit payments in February last year. A month later, he was on holiday in Miami. All the victims were terrified by the attacks and many suffered shocking injuries to their face and bodies. One woman needed reconstructive surgery to her jaw. Today, a jury at Kingston crown court convicted Williams, of Wandsworth Common, and Christopher Byom, 29, of Clapham, of conspiracy to rob. Anton Lord, 33, of Clapham, had earlier pleaded guilty to the same charge. They will be sentenced at a date to be confirmed.
In April 2009, Sandra Pilger was throttled from behind in front of her two-year-old son near the Fulham Road and her wedding and engagement rings worth £18,000 were taken. Elizabeth Proctor was with her 12-week-old son in a pushchair near Clapham Common when she was grabbed around the neck from behind. Nicola Griggs was attacked in front of her seven-year-old child and baby in a pushchair in Battersea, and Emma Enticott was attacked in Battersea with her three young children.Christina Sheehy was robbed of her £8,000 engagement ring in front of her four-year-old son, and Katherine Britton was pregnant when she was beaten to the ground in Clapham. After losing consciousness, she awoke to find her £11,000 engagement and wedding rings missing.
That's a familiar modus operandi of theirs. But at least their victims escaped the fate of Neil Williams and Andrew Owen, killed in the great Garotting Panic of 2007.
