A smash-and-grab sledgehammer robber, whose gang snatched £300,000 worth of watches from landmark West End store Selfridges, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Michael Sharpe, 40, (pictured) of Roe Stock Gardens, Holloway, North London was only caught after his tell-tale DNA was found at another similar raid in Northampton over four years later.
He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to burgling Selfridges on December 29, 2006 and the sentence will be added to the six-and-a-half years he received for the Northampton raid.
Three high-powered motorbikes pulled up outside the department store at 2:30am and three pillion passengers smashed a side door window and entered, snatching the watches.
DNA was found on the sledgehammer the gang left behind, which was later matched to Sharpe’s DNA when he was arrested for the Northampton offence, which took place on February 7, last year.
Detective Inspector Bob Currie of Westminster Crime Squad said: “This conviction, even five years after the offence, shows that police will continue to pursue offenders until they are caught and brought to justice.
“Thanks to the hard work and support of our colleagues in Northamptonshire Police we were able to link the suspect to the scene of the crime in Oxford Street and put him before the courts.”
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