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Scooter thieves strike again to steal knitwear
Benedict Moore-Bridger02.10.08
Ram-raiders forced their way into an up-market fashion shop today to steal designer knitwear in London's latest smash-and-grab raid.
Thieves riding scooters mounted the pavement and smashed into the John Smedley store in Brook Street, Mayfair.
The store's glass front door was destroyed as the gang struck in the early hours of this morning.
Witnesses said there were up to three scooters involved in the raid.
It follows a number of similar raids on designer West End stores involving gangs on stolen scooters and motorcycles in lightning operations. Stores targeted include Anya Hindmarch's handbag shop in New Bond Street, Jimmy Choo shoes and Asprey jewellers.
Another high-profile attack included a robbery on Royal jewellers Mappin & Webb when thieves stole £40,000 of gems in August.
It was the second raid in five days at the store, which is jeweller to the Queen and Prince Charles, and the fourth time the shop has been targeted in the past two years.
It is not yet clear whether the latest robbery, which involves a haul of woolly jumpers rather than expensive jewels, is linked to the series of attacks.
Police said there have been more than 140 separate raids by motorcycle gangs on stores in central London since the beginning of the year, with gangs seizing goods worth more than £3million. They are believed to make a fortune reselling the designer items on the black market.
Shops have been advised not to display goods in windows overnight and to install shutters, but the precautions have done little to prevent further robberies.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "The raid took place at 12.20am today on a shop in Brook Street. We will be looking at whether it is connected to previous shop raids involving scooters."
