Video captured the moment sledgehammer-wielding thugs smashed their way into a luxury shop and made off with £60,000 of watches and jewellery.
The men were part of a seven-strong gang convicted today of seven smash-and-grab robberies around the capital over four months last year.
Together, they stole more than £100,000 of goods and targeted a range of businesses – including a café and a fine art shop.
Security footage shows convicted killer Lee McCready, 45, and Matthew Windrass, 50, running over to the shopfront on Edgware Road, Westminster, and swinging their hammers at the windows on July 1, 2025.
Terrified pedestrians, including two parents with a baby in a buggy, scramble to distance themselves from the men in balaclavas.
Pulling back the broken glass, they reach inside to grab handfuls of goods and stuff them inside their bags, towards Anthony Munday, 40, who acted as their getaway driver.
Within nine minutes of arriving on the scene, the robbers were fleeing down the street with £59,930 worth of the shop’s goods.
Two thugs wearing balaclavas used sledgehammers to smash their way into a luxury shop on Edgeware Road in Westminster
They broke through the glass and reached through to grab handfuls of watches and jewellery
McCready, Windrass and Munday were arrested along with Christopher Gibbs and George O’Hare in a series of raids on August 5 last year, coordinated by the Metropolitan Police’s elite Flying Squad.
Paul Hughes and David Rigelsford were arrested on September 29 and October 29 respectively.
Their spree began on May 8, when Gibbs, O’Hare and a third man rammed a blue Ford Fiesta into the entrance of luxury clothing store Fendi in Kensington – which was also caught on camera.
The trio of thugs made off in a Mercedes getaway car with £8,350 of designer goods.
During the early hours of June 30, Hughes and Gibbs broke into the Unico café in St Johns Wood, northwest London, and snatched £1,107 in cash as well as the store’s safe.
McCready and Windrass launched their sledgehammer heist the following day, at 4.15pm.
At 3.20am on July 13 Rigelsford and another suspect parked a white SUV outside a store in Kensington, kicked their way inside and took £11,000 worth of goods.
Eight days later, Rigelsford and Gibbs used a sledgehammer to smash into a watch store in Westminster at 3.30am, destroying cabinets inside before leaving empty-handed.
Members of the same gang used a car to ram through the doors of a designer clothes shop on Sloane Street
Three men ran inside to grab luxury items before fleeing in a getaway car and a motorcyle
Left to right: Christopher Gibbs, 43, Paul Hughes, 42, Matthew Windrass, 50, and Lee McCready, 45
Left to right: George O’Hare, 37, David Riglesford, 37, and Anthony Munday, 40
Bungling Gibbs gave away his identity by using a Lime bike to travel to the shop – booked via his bank account.
The following Sunday, the gang stole £66,500 worth of goods from Clarendon Fine Art in Marylebone, central London, at 3.04am.
Gibbs and another man used a paving block taken from a white Peugeot to smash through the front door, before snatching the artwork and fleeing towards Oxford Street.
On August 5, Gibbs targeted beauty supply store NK Apothecary in Marylebone, launching a brick at the window but failing to break inside.
Rigelsford also burgled the May Fair Hotel on March 31, stealing £12,000 worth of bags and valuables from a couple who had left their room.
On May 22 he stole a convertible Mini Cooper which was then used as a getaway vehicle in a burglary at the luxury Phillips Auction House in Mayfair, when £610,500 worth of items were taken.
The group was sentenced to a total of 22 years following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police, which combed CCTV footage to trace escape vehicles and identified suspects through forensic work.
Initial arrests during a police raid led to the unravelling of a wider criminal network, and seven convictions were ultimately secured.
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Mather, from the Met’s Flying Squad, said: ‘We realise these attacks on luxury stores have had a significant impact on business owners and the communities around them.
‘Our detectives worked quickly, establishing common patterns between the attacks to link them to one criminal network. Forensic analysis and fast-paced CCTV enquiries were then able to identify the suspects.
‘This is a clear message to anyone who thinks they can carry out smash-and-grab raids in London – we will identify you, we will track you down and we will bring you to justice.’
Gibbs, 43, of Talbot Road, Bayswater, was convicted of four counts of burglary on Sloane Street, St John’s Wood High Street, Duke Street and Marylebone High Street and one of attempted burglary on Marylebone High Street. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
O’Hare, 37, of Wormholt Road, Wormholt, was convicted of one count of burglary on Sloane Street, possession of Class A drugs and breach of a serious crime prevention order. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
Hughes, 42, of Grendon Street, Church Street, was convicted of two counts of burglary on Sloane Street and St John’s Wood High Street. He was also convicted of an unrelated robbery. He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
Munday, 40, of Harrow Road, Hyde Park, was convicted of one count of burglary on Edgeware Road. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment (suspended for two years) and 150 hours unpaid work.
McCready, 45, of Grand Junction Place, Uxbridge, was convicted of one count of burglary on Edgeware Road, and sentenced to two years behind bars.
Windrass, 50, of Park Crescent, Ascot, was convicted of one count of burglary on Edgeware Road, and sentenced to two years in prison.
Rigelsford, 37, of Denmark Road, Kilburn, was convicted of two counts of burglary on Kensington Church Street and Duke Street. He was sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment.
