West London Gang Jailed for Stealing £157,000 from Drunk Night Owls
Five men from West London have been locked up for a brazen crime spree targeting drunken Londoners. The gang hit the capital’s nightlife, stealing nearly £157,000 by swiping victims’ bank cards and splurging on designer gear worth £37,000.
Prison Sentences for Key Players
- Mohammed Yusuf, 26, and Arun Babbar, 23, both from Harrow, got over three years behind bars and slapped with five-year criminal behaviour orders.
- Hamzah Mahmood, 25, from Wembley, plus Reece Brown and Mahamed Hassan, both 25 and from Harrow, received suspended sentences.
Babbar was handed a three-and-a-half year term. Mahmood faces a three-year behaviour order, plus 100 hours unpaid work, electronic tagging, and a curfew. Brown and Hassan got two-year behaviour orders and similar tagging and rehab orders.
The Crime Spree Unfolded
At midnight on November 26, 2021, the gang struck near Cannon Street. Babbar, Mahmood, and Yusuf trapped a man withdrawing £10 from an ATM. The victim later learned over £1,000 was fraudulently spent from his accounts. Another card vanished altogether.
The same night in Moorgate, the trio with Brown targeted another victim. After buying drinks and getting invited back to the victim’s flat in Ealing, they left hours later with the man’s credit card. It was used to splash £10,000 on designer clothes.
Two days later, Babbar and Hassan conned a nightclubber in Euston. Invited home at dawn, they departed with four watches worth £26,800. The victim’s bank took a £27,000 hit on clothes and sportswear.
Police Crackdown and Evidence
Babbar had a prior robbery charge near London Bridge from October, earning him an eight-month sentence running alongside these thefts.
In March 2022, police caught Hassan and Mahmood lurking by an ATM in Eastcheap. Mahmood had fake bank cards, and searches uncovered links to multiple thefts. Babbar was also tied to five extra heists after cops found a crypto wallet packed with nearly £60,000.
“This group deliberately targeted people who had been out on a night out because they knew they would be more vulnerable to theft,” said Detective Sergeant Dominic Shaw of the City of London Police’s Major Crime Team. “They gained their victims’ trust, even inviting themselves into their homes, before stealing tens of thousands of pounds from their bank and cryptocurrency accounts.”
The five-man crew’s night-out scams are a stark warning for London pub-goers to stay alert and guard their wallets – and their trust.
