A 19-year-old Nigerian boy, Miracle Osondu has been sentenced to jail along with two others for carrying out 19 knife and acid attack robberies in north and east London. They were jailed today, Tuesday, 11 September at Wood Green Crown Court for a total of more than 30 years.
According to the Metropolitan police, the horrific attacks targeted taxi drivers and people selling items via Gumtree. The group used strong acids, alkalis, and knives, to rob and maim their victims, some of whom will never recover from their injuries.
Antoine Mensah, 21, was sentenced to 13 years, extended to 17 years, in prison after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to rob comprising 19 counts of robbery as well as a planned robbery, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article. Mensah also pleaded guilty to six counts of assault in an unrelated case. Mensah will serve a minimum of 8 years and 8 months in prison.
Miracle Osondu, 19, was sentenced to 11 years, extended to 15, in prison after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to rob comprising 19 counts of robbery as well as a planned robbery, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article. A separate charge of theft from 2017 will remain on file. Osondu will serve a minimum of seven years and four months in prison.
Reporting restrictions were lifted on the teenager involved at the instruction of the judge. He is Mohammed Ali, and was sentenced to eight years, extended to 12 years, in prison after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to rob comprising 19 counts of robbery as well as a planned robbery, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article. Ali will serve a minimum of five years and four months in prison.
The court heard that between 26 April and 14 May 2018, the trio embarked on a series of robberies that involved robbing mini-cab drivers at knifepoint and using strong chemicals to rob people they had arranged to buy and sell mobile phones from the Gumtree website.
The first offence they committed occurred on 26 April, where the three took a taxi to a street in Enfield where they robbed their taxi driver, threatening to stab him.
This quickly escalated to physically restraining taxi drivers and on two occasions producing a knife with which they threatened the drivers. Following this, they moved on to targeting unsuspecting victims from Gumtree.
They were taken into custody where they gave no comment interviews. All three were charged on 17 May.