A luxury watch thief who chatted to victims before robbing them in London’s Rolex Ripper crime wave has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.
Mohamed Amoyos, 33, was jailed for four and a half years at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to four counts of robbery at an earlier hearing.
The court heard how Amoyos targeted lone men wearing designer watches at night, striking up conversations about South American football, before grabbing the timepieces from their wrists once their guards were down.
He stole four watches worth a total of £65,000 using the method – which contrasts with the more common technique of using mopeds to ride up to wearers and snatch the timepieces – between October and December 2023.
They included a £7,000 Rolex stolen from a man in Kensington on October 4.
On November 18, Amoyos took a £40,000 Audemars Piguet watch from a man in Westminster.
Six days later, Amoyos robbed a man in Kensington for his Rolex Submariner, worth £15,000, before stealing a £2,500 limited-edition Muhammad Ali Tag Heuer watch from a fourth victim in Westminster, on December 1.
He was arrested on January 8 this year.
Detective Superintendent Andy Swindells, who led the investigation for London’s Metropolitan Police, said Amoyos’s arrest followed a thorough investigation by officers “that demonstrates their unwavering determination to make the capital safer for Londoners and tourists”.
“We’ve seen time and time again the devastating effect that robbery can have on victims no matter what gets stolen,” he said.
“We encourage people to report as soon as they can whenever they have been a victim of a robbery or theft, so officers can attend the scene and investigate swiftly.”
Amoyos, from Hounslow, west London, is one of several people sentenced recently in a clampdown on the capital's watch theft crime wave.
Last month, Aidan Lukeman, 29, and Marcel Espinosa Farrell, 22, were sentenced to a combined nine years and eight months for a series of robberies involving high-value watches.
The number of watches stolen in England and Wales almost doubled to 11,035 a year between 2015 and 2022, according to figures from Watchfinder UK, in a surge that became known as the Rolex Ripper crime wave.
London is the centre, with a 56 per cent rise in thefts and 6,000 watches stolen in the capital last year alone.
International business executives have voiced concerns about visiting even the most high-end parts of London for fear their expensive watches will be stolen.
The Met Police have dedicated extra resources to fighting the crime wave and this year revealed details of an operation in which undercover officers wearing luxury watches late at night in central London were used as bait to lure robbers, before their colleagues moved in to make arrests.
Earlier this year, the jailing of Algerian watch thieves exposed a crime network operating from North Africa to the UK to carry out lucrative robberies.
Using background details provided by the Met Police about the Algerian-led gang, court documents and coverage of their trial, as well as speaking to experts, The National was able to piece together how they went about their work and how the booming market in stolen watches drew them to the streets of London.
Top 6 luxury watch brands listed as stolen/missing – in pictures
Met officers are targeting hotspots for phone and watch robberies, such as Westminster and Croydon, with increased patrols and plain clothes officers.
Suspects who are imprisoned for three months or more for robbery are made to wear electronic tags on their release.
If they are found to be within 100 metres of a reported robbery in London, the data from their tag is used to build evidence against those committing offences.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
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The stats: 2017 Jaguar XJ
Price, base / as tested Dh326,700 / Dh342,700
Engine 3.0L V6
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