A five-year long crime spree was brought to an end when police caught two burglars red-handed at their storage location. The criminal network carried out a string of high-value burglaries between January 2020 and January 2025 which “terrorised” shopkeepers across North London and Hertfordshire.
Police say the value of the thefts, which were conducted with a high level of planning, reached an estimated £2m before they were brought to a stop.
Shocking video footage shows the men cutting through metal shutters, smashing their way through shop windows and raiding counters to secure hauls of high-value stock, often in full view of members of the public. They stored the stolen goods in isolated locations, including a churchyard.
So far the gang has been linked to 100 offences, but detectives fear the number could be much higher.
Who was involved?
- Lewis Northover, 31, of Fry Road, Brent, was sentenced to six years and nine months for conspiracy to commit burglary and handling stolen goods between January 2020 and September 2022 and conspiracy to commit burglary and handling stolen goods between April 2024 and January 2025. He was also given a Serious Crime Prevention Order
- Scott Logan, 36, of Hazellville Road, Islington, was sentenced to six years and nine months for conspiracy to commit burglary and handling stolen goods between January 2020 and September 2022 and conspiracy to commit burglary and handling stolen goods between April 2024 and January 2025. He was also given a Serious Crime Prevention Order
- Sean Bennett, 38, of Marshmoor Lane, Hatfield, was sentenced to four years and ten months for conspiracy to commit burglary and handling stolen goods between January 2020 and September 2022 and a separate count of handling stolen goods re. £80,000.00 of silverware found at his address upon arrest. He also faces a £2,550 cash seizure
- Sachon Morgan, 33, of Cricklewood Lane, Cricklewood, was sentenced to two years and seven months for conspiracy to commit burglary and handling stolen goods between April 2024 and January 2025.
Northover, Logan and Bennett used high-powered stolen vehicles to raid a string of shops – stealing cigarettes, jewellery and silverware between January 2020 and September 2022.
The thieves were able to rapidly break into the shop by cutting the metal shutters and then escape at speed. Between January and September 2022 members of the criminal gang carried out in the region of 100 burglaries – with the value of property stolen and damage caused exceeding £1m.
On April 8, 2024 the gang resumed their crime spree. From this date until January 9 this year. Northover, Logan and Morgan targeted more than 35 convenience stores, electronics shops and a department store and on several occasions travelling to South London targeting jewellery stores. Stolen property was often stored in the grounds of a church.
Detectives placed the suspects under surveillance and followed the stolen vehicles – an Audi RS6 and VW T-Roc – to a barn near Waltham Abbey.
On Thursday, 9 January Northover, Logan and Morgan targeted an electronics store in North West London. When they returned with the stolen goods to the storage location, they found Met Flying Squad officers lying in wait. Logan and Morgan were arrested in possession of the stolen goods, an angle grinder used in the burglaries and high powered electric bikes. Northover was arrested in the following weeks.
When Bennett was arrested, officers additionally found £80k worth of stolen silver taken from a venue in Golders Green at his home address. He said that he had been paid to store them in his outbuilding.
Northover, Logan and Morgan entered guilty pleas before the trail, while Sean Bennett entered a guilty plea on the first day at Kingston Crown Court on June 23.
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Mather, of the Met’s Flying Squad, who led the investigation, said: “Northover, Logan, Bennett and Morgan were part of an organised criminal network who horrified shopkeepers and communities with a series of raids. They thought that acting quickly and escaping in high-powered vehicles meant that they were above the law. They were wrong.
“Officers tracked them down through diligent forensic work, digging through CCTV and carrying out surveillance. Their hard work shows how the force is taking the fight to criminal gangs and committed to supporting the local communities they intimidate and threaten.”
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