Handbag raid gang member jailed

A member of a bike-mounted gang who carried out smash-and-grab raids on exclusive handbag stores has been jailed for 26 months.

Matthew Pitt, 24, pleaded guilty to two City raids, taking goods worth £24,500, and storing the proceeds of a third.

Officers found handbags stolen in the third raid at Pitt's house in Islington, north London.

The gang would smash plate glass windows and steel shutters to grab bags worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Pitt, the only member of the gang to have been caught, was a "sophisticated, professional burglar", prosecutor Nick Mather told the court.

"(The gang) deliberately targeted shops with high-value, desirable consumer goods," he said. "They would turn up on mopeds, smash shop windows, steal what they could and then ride off."

Pitt's first target, Mulberry Design Company in New Bond Street in the West End, was raided in July 2006.

There is no doubt these were planned burglaries... of high value goods Judge John Price

The crash helmet-wearing gang smashed a window and grabbed 23 handbags, valued at about £13,000, Mr Mather said.

Police were able to track the theft down to a property in Islington where they found a car with the haul, helmets and hammer. Pitt was arrested at the time but released on bail after being charged, the court heard.

The second smash-and-grab attack took place on Louis Vuitton's store near the Bank of England. The gang grabbed 23 bags valued at more than £14,500.

A sledgehammer containing Pitt's DNA was found at the scene, the court heard.

The Louis Vuitton store was targeted again three months later. Within 13 hours of the heist, goods worth £19,285 were found at Pitt's home.

Judge John Price told Pitt: "There is no doubt these were planned burglaries... of high value goods."

Sentencing him to 26 months in prison, the judge said it was "a considerable sentence for a young man" but added: "You have previous convictions and they include robberies."