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Crime Desk Criminals who wore women's clothes who then proceeded to rob a jewellers of £460,000 in Newham are being sought with images made available by the Metropolitan Police. On 21 November 2024 at approximately 17:10hrs seven men entered Lasani Jewellers, 65 Plashet Grove, Newham, E6, robbed £460,000 worth of jewellery and seriously assaulted a customer before leaving.
The premises is a family run Asian jewellers specialising in 22 and 24 carat gold jewellery.
The owners had buzzed a male through the first door of the premises when a further six males quickly ran in behind him and began to smash the second security door which leads into the shop.
Once inside one of the suspects sprayed some sort of gas every where and directed it towards one of the owners and a male customer in particular. The suspects then started to smash all of the glass display cases using an axe and a sledge hammer.
The suspects also assaulted the male customer. Detectives believe he was hit with a sledge hammer before being punched and kicked while he lay on the ground.
One of the suspects remained outside the venue keeping watch and can be seen on CCTV throwing a petrol bomb onto the pavement which caught fire.
The suspects inside loaded all of the gold they had gathered into holdalls and made off on foot in the direction of Park Road, E6, dropping a plastic bag which had a further two, home made petrol bombs inside.
Approximately £460,000 worth of Asian gold was stolen during the robbery.
Approximately ten minutes before committing the robbery, the suspect's poured petrol over a vehicle parked close to the jewellery shop and set fire to it. London Fire Brigade attended and put the fire out. CCTV footage shows two of the suspects walking from the vehicle towards the jewellers just prior to the offence taking place.
On 19 November 2024 at approximately 18:15hrs the same white male who was initially buzzed inside during the robbery had gone into the jewellery shop. He was wearing a dark coloured wig and a long black coat with what looked like black tights underneath.
He started to look around the shop and asked the victims questions about what carat certain items of jewellery were before leaving the shop. CCTV shows a number of males had tried to come into the shop behind the man but the shop door had locked behind him as he entered, preventing them from getting in. Detectives believe the man was the same man dressed in women's clothing that entered the shop first during the robbery.
Suspect one is described as a white male wearing a black wig, a black ladies coat with a grey fur lined collar, black tights and black slip on flat shoes.
Suspect two is described as a white male wearing a blue hooded top with yellow and white stripes on the sleeves, a fur hat, grey gloves and blue jeans.
Suspect three is described as a white male wearing a grey hooded top, a black balaclava, black gloves and black jogging bottoms.
Suspect four is described as a white male wearing a blue hooded top, a black balaclava, a striped scarf, black jogging bottoms and dark trainers.
Suspect five is described as a white male wearing a grey jacket, a blue woollen hat, a dark striped scarf, dark trousers and dark shoes.
Suspect six is described as a white male wearing a dark fur lined hat with flaps at the sides, a striped scarf, a dark blue jacket, dark trousers and grey woollen gloves.
Suspect seven is described as a white male wearing a light grey hooded top, a blue scarf, grey jogging bottoms, grey gloves, grey trainers and a dark baseball cap.
No arrests have been made and enquires continue to trace the suspects.
Detective Constable Nick Larkey, of the Flying Squad, said: "The MPS Flying Squad is committed to detecting crimes and apprehending violent criminals to make our business communities feel safer.
"This was a violent attack which left the shop owners extremely shaken and a customer injured. We need help from the public to trace these individuals before they attempt to target some where else."
Anyone who recognises the suspects or knows of their whereabouts should contact the Flying Squad in Barking on 020 8345 4255 or alternatively to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
There is no CCTV available.
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