Home / Crime and Justice / Modern Fagin Led Schoolboy Phone Thieves
Modern Fagin Led Schoolboy Phone Thieves
1 Apr
Summary
- Gang used social media to recruit teenagers for phone heists.
- Over £100,000 worth of mobile phones stolen in two weeks.
- Elderly getaway drivers and young schoolboys were part of the gang.
Sammie Govera, 32, led a gang of teenage robbers responsible for stealing more than £100,000 worth of mobile phones in just two weeks. His crew included schoolboys, a pensioner who served as a getaway driver, and another driver with an eyepatch. Govera recruited and directed his young charges through a Snapchat group named '8.30am,' making trips from his home in Newport, South Wales, to manage operations.
The gang conducted numerous raids on phone shops across London, with teenagers, disguised in gloves and balaclavas, threatening staff and stealing valuables. One raid alone in Woolwich netted £30,000 in goods. Some robberies were aborted due to panic buttons or the suspicion of undercover police, signaled by the codeword 'undies'.
Scotland Yard's Flying Squad, through Operation Wavesplash, apprehended the gang. Key arrests occurred when police stopped a getaway car in Balham and later intercepted Govera and others with getaway driver Thomas Davidson. Govera pleaded conspiracy to rob, and nine others were convicted. Detective Constable Thomas Lockwood noted a complete absence of London phone shop raids since Govera's custody.
