A steaming gang caught camera terrorising and robbing passengers across London have been sentenced to a total of 23 years in prison.

Melvyn Gay, 27, of Walthamstow was sentenced to 9 years', Sheldon Williams, 20, of Clapton and Aaron Flemming, 20, of Hackney, were each sentenced to 4 ½ years' and Douglas Lawrence, 20, of Tottenham was sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment.

The gang admitted to charges of conspiracy to rob over an eight-month period between April and November 2007, from passengers onboard mainline and tube trains across London, at locations including Liverpool Street, Fairlop Waters, Walthamstow Central, Seven Sisters, Stoke Newington and Loughton.

'Law unto themselves'

Southwark Crown Court heard how their victims, the youngest being a 15-year-old girl at Walthamstow Central, were put through terrifying ordeals by the gang, who would rob them of cash, jewellery, mobile phones and digital music players.

"They targeted men, women and children and warned them of severe consequences if they resisted their demands," said DC Pine.

"They thought that they were a law unto themselves and had absolutely no conception of the trauma and fear experienced by those who had the misfortune of being picked on."

On some occasions, the gang would commit multiple robberies on the same day.

The charges

Gay, Williams and Flemming also admitted to various charges of robbery. Altogether, they pleaded guilty to a total of seventeen counts of robbery. Lawrence admitted his part in the gang’s conspiracy to rob.

Gay, the most prolific member of the group, pleaded guilty to nine robberies. Williams and Flemming pleaded guilty to four charges of robbery.

Same day attacks

On one such day in April 2007, the gang carried out three robberies. The first saw three young men robbed of a £500 gold chain and pendant, a silver chain and mobile phone on a train at Fairlop underground station.

The second robbery saw the group board a train at Barkingside underground station before surrounding their victim and ordering him to hand over his phone, saying, "I’m gonna count to five, get your phone out." As they began to count, the victim was slapped across the face, held in a headlock and punched in the face and head several times.

Later that day, the gang boarded a train at Silver Street railway station. This time, they walked past the victim, who heard members of the group say, “shall we do it?" and "I’ll do it." They sat next to the victim and said, "you know the deal," before stealing two mobile phones and a wallet. They also demanded the victim’s bank card pin number and later withdrew £200 from his account.

"We'll smash your face in."

"On another occasion, the group threatened to “smash” a teenage boy in the face with a bottle if he did not give them his phone. After handing it over, one of the members of the group teased the victim, saying, “thanks for the phone, same time tomorrow.”

Melvyn Gay would also offend alone, seeking out victims and showing them a knife to support the threats he made. On Friday 16 April 2007, for example, Gay boarded a train at Highams Park railway station and engaged his victim in casual conversation before demanding his mobile phone and wallet. He then made the victim give the PIN number for his debit card saying, "If you don’t tell me, I’ll shank you, I’ve got a knife."

BBC Crimewatch

Detectives from British Transport Police’s East London robbery squad traced the gang after months of investigation, which involved analysis of hundreds of hours of CCTV footage, by appealing to members of the public through the BBC’s Crimewatch show.

Having aired on the evening of 24 January 2008, officers were immediately inundated with calls from the public giving names of members of the gang, allowing officers to identify and arrest them within two weeks of the show.

DC Pine said:

"These people behaved as if they would never be caught. What they failed to recognise, however, is that they were so often captured on camera by CCTV systems on trains and at stations. This proved invaluable in helping us to track them down and bring them to justice.

“Passengers should be aware that robberies on the railway network in London are significantly down, and that CCTV is proving increasingly valuable in tracing offenders who think it is acceptable to inflict misery on law abiding people."

"You pose a significant threat"

Sentencing the gang at Southwark Crown Court, Judge James Wadsworth QC condemned their actions, which he labelled as a "nasty and extended series of armed robberies in which either a knife was produced or used or violence was threatened." He added:

"You all knew that the robberies you were going out to commit were going to be done with the threat or use of a knife and you must all jointly bear responsibility for that.

"In respect of each of you, I must make clear that you pose a significant risk of serious harm to others because of the likelihood of further offences involving robbery or the use or carrying of knives."