A high-profile east London gang that was caught on camera at a McDonald’s drive-thru during a haul have been jailed for 46 years. The eight-person gang was caught after police raided a pub belonging to the gang's ringleader Manjit Sandhu, 32, in east London's Manor Park on August 17 last year. Bags of stolen car keys were found in the basement, along with key programming technology, blank keys and a tool for picking car locks.
The gang used to break into people's homes and stole car keys, taking off in high-end Range Rovers, BMWs and Mercedes. Their business touched Africa, as some of the cars were exported to the continent, while others were broken down for parts. They even drove about in minicabs emblazoned with Transport for London's “private hire” stickers to steal keyless cars by using technology to spoof car unlocking. Authorities found that the group had carried out over 120 crimes between March 2015 and August, last year.
The Met's Organised Vehicle Crime Unit lead, Detective Inspector Caroline Clooney said, “This was an extremely prolific and well-organised criminal gang. They bought distress to many victims whose homes they broke into, who not only lost their vehicles but in many cases were traumatised by the thought of someone having been in their house while they slept. Although the case involved over 120 offences, it is clear that this team were responsible for an even greater number of crimes.”
The gang included Sandhu, Heena Bux, 21, Khuram Zaman, 20, and Mohammed Islam, 21, who were all found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to steal, Sufiyan Mahmood, 19, and Faisal Khan, 23, both who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to steal, Humzah Bhariwala, 23 who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary, and Geoffrey Cairns, 55, who was found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary.
Sandhu received a sentence of 12 years in prison, Bux got nine years and six months, Zaman got a total of four years, six months, Islam got three, Cairns got three years and six months, and Bhariwala was jailed for a total of 18 months. Mahmood who was jailed for seven years and six months, and Khan was sentenced to four years and six months.
