Two men have been jailed for stealing more than £40,000 in cash and perfume in a series of West End robberies.

Reed Roberts, 30, of Compton Passage, Islington, and Alfie Atherton, 29, of Saxon Road, Tower Hamlets, took £22,000 in cash off a delivery driver who was about to drop it off at a supermarket in Clerkenwell Road on February 1 last year.

Roberts was sentenced to seven years and six months' imprisonment at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday (March 26), and Atherton was sentenced to 10 years and six months’ in prison.

Detectives from the Flying Squad investigating the cash in transit robbery were also able to link the duo to a "smash and grab" robbery at a high-end department store in Marlborough Street three days earlier.

They had thrown a concrete slab through a window of the shop in the early hours of January 29, which cost more than £1,000 to repair.

One of the suspects – later identified as Atherton – climbed through the hole and filled a rubble sack with more than £20,500 worth of luxury perfume and aftershave.

As he dragged the bag outside towards their get-away moped, he was confronted by a store security guard, but he pulled out a "Rambo" style knife and told him: “Get back or I will stab you.”

%image(15075668, type="article-full", alt="The knife which was used to threaten a security guard during a "smash and grab" robbery at a high-end department store in Marlborough Street")

Atherton was also linked to two attempted "smash and grab" burglaries at designer stores in New Bond Street in the early hours of March 3, 2020.

Although Atherton and the three other as yet unidentified suspects didn't get away with any goods, they used a moped to ram one shop's door, and they tried to smash the glass front window of another shop with a concrete block, causing more than £45,000 in damages.

Atherton pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, two counts of attempted burglary and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place while Roberts pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery.

Det Const Lenny O’Keeffe, from the Flying Squad, said: “Atherton and Roberts caused chaos in the West End, even threatening and using violence, in their bid to steal cash and high-value goods.

"They soon discovered that crime does not pay and thanks to the investigative work by the Flying Squad, they will instead be spending a lengthy period of time behind bars.”