Two teenagers who tried to steal a judge’s £15,000 motorbike from the grounds of Snaresbrook Crown Court have been sentenced (scroll down for CCTV footage)
18-year-old Shay Hollis, of Harrow Drive, Enfield and 19-year-old Deon-Dre Rogers-Barrett, of Ashdown Road, Enfield, appeared at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday, 2 December.
The incident unfolded at 14:10hrs on 16 April 2021, when Hollis and Rogers-Barrett, accompanied by a third unidentified suspect, rode into the grounds of Snaresbrook Crown Court on two mopeds.
They come across the motorcycle, a BMW R 1250GS Adventure TE Rallye worth £15,000, and quickly began trying to steal it.
They were challenged by a member of security, at which point Hollis produced a machete and threatened him. Fearing he’d be seriously injured, the guard fled inside the building, and the pair began pushing the motorcycle away from the courthouse.
However, they found they were trapped inside the grounds after security staff shut the gates.
They then dumped the motorcycle, causing several thousand pounds worth of damage, and discarded their own mopeds, helmets, angle grinder and the machete, before climbing over fencing and fleeing on foot.
Police were called and responded immediately. An area search was conducted, but the suspects could not be found.
The discarded items were seized, forensically examined, and an investigation was quickly started by officers from the Met’s Operation Venice.
One of the discarded mopeds was found to be registered and insured to Rogers-Barrett, while the other items were forensically linked to him and Hollis following specialist analysis.
Both were arrested on 27 May 2021.
Rogers-Barrett had called police 90 minutes after the robbery to falsely report that he was robbed at knifepoint of his own moped and mobile phone before the robbery at Snaresbrook.
Investigators proved this didn’t happen by reviewing CCTV from the falsely reported robbery location and recovering the same phone he reported stolen from his home address upon arrest.
He denied knowing Hollis at all in an interview, but officers were able to retrieve images of Hollis from his mobile phone.
Distinctive clothing worn by Hollis during the offence was found following a search of his home address.
Both were charged and remanded in custody. The third suspect has not been identified.
Rogers-Barrett was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activity and was given a three-month curfew monitored by an electronic tag. He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to the victim. He had previously pleaded guilty to robbery and not guilty to affray.
Hollis was sentenced to an 18-month supervision order. He was ordered to carry out 12 hours of unpaid work and to pay £500 compensation to the victim. He had previously pleaded guilty to robbery, criminal damage, threatening a person in a public place with an offensive weapon and affray.
PC Ian Croxford, from the Met’s Operation Venice, said:
“This is a fine example of good police work from our team, using skills and resources from across the MPS to bring two offenders to justice.
“They were intent on stealing a valuable motorcycle in an attempt that can only be described as brazen and audacious. To ride into the grounds of a Crown Court and try this shows a flagrant disregard for the law.
“That the brave security staff who challenged them were threatened with a machete shows they were not afraid to use violence to get what they wanted.
“This should serve as a warning to anyone concerned in serious criminality that we will investigate and will use every tool at our disposal to bring you to justice.”
1/2 #WATCH the moment when THREE thieves who were armed with machetes rode onto the grounds of Southwark Crown Court on stolen mopeds to steal a £15K motorbike belonging to one of the judges! @grahamwettone @MPSSouthwark Video credit: @metpoliceuk @InspGadgetBlogs pic.twitter.com/EJpEUXhrUS
— Emergency-Services.News (@ES_News_) December 13, 2022
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How nicer for his learned honour that the police investigated this appalling crime. Hampshire Constabulary could not be bothered when my neighbour’s bike was stolen from his locked garage despite CCTV evidence and a couple of promising suspects. Mind you, no machetes were involved.
We have come to this sorry state of affairs. A machete can sever a limb yet these two scumbags escaped prison, probably for the umpteenth time. They should have been locked up for at least a year for the theft plus another 2 for armed robbery, which would mean being freed for Christmas 2025.
Of course these scroats got sentenced, they tried to rob a judge
Rob a civilian or beat up a copper, and the courts do nothing
Scrub my last comment.
Not even stealing a judge’s bike is enough for prison….. I misread it.
When will these scroats actually get prison time.
If the prisons are full, then stop criminalising debt, or TV licence, or council tax. That should free up some space
Also if under 18, then a good old fashioned detention center should come back … Didn’t do me no harm.
Sorry I got to laugh at: the brave security … Saw the knife, and darted straight back inside.
Strangely when I got threatened with a knife, police took 9 hrs to turn up, and the call handler didn’t want details of the person, they wanted my details FIRST … THEN I COULDNT REMEMBER TOO MUCH, half an hour later when it came time to actually report the crime.
Next day I watch 5 police cars, respond in minutes to a shoplifter…. Unarmed too. Mind he couldn’t hold a knife and the extra large TV box!
The justice system is well and truly broken. What deterrent is a suspended sentence to machete wielding scum bags. One comment above said police don’t even bother investigating is it’s a member of public. So these thieves wielding knives and machetes go onto bigger things knowing full well they’ll get a silly sentence and tagged ! Wow what a country a? I want to see boot camps run by ex military where these wayward idiots are sent for the minimum of 5 years with no computers tv’s etc. just bare basics and teach them some respect ‼️