Ten charged over masked phone shop raids

Ten people have been charged as part of an investigation into a series of phone shop robberies in London and across the east of England.

An organised crime group is believed to have carried out 13 raids since February - including on stores in Staines, Hackney, Ilford and Orpington - stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of new handsets from secure stock-rooms.

Shop workers described how they had been threatened by the robbers, who often had their faces covered and were sometimes armed, the Met Police said.

Eight men aged between 20 and 31 and two 17-year-old boys appeared before Bromley magistrates charged with conspiracy to commit robbery after being arrested at addresses in London.

'Multimillion-pound industry'

The arrests came as part of a two-week operation targeting prolific offenders, which resulted in 292 suspects being detained across London, the Met Police said.

As well as a focus on organised gangs, officers have increased patrols in phone-snatch hotspot areas, the force said.

Det Ch Insp Laura Hillier from the Met's Flying Squad said phone robberies had "boomed globally".

"There is a concerted effort by criminal gangs to steal phones and sell them overseas as part of a multimillion-pound industry," she said.

"The Met is catching more of these criminals and operations such as this are vital to disrupting offenders who cause fear and misery to shop workers and communities."