A duo who posed as window cleaners to ransack businesses in central London stealing thousands of pounds worth of items have been jailed for conspiracy to commit burglary at Southwark Crown Court today, Monday 11 January.
Robert Smythe, 54, of Dufferin Street EC1 and Tony Dudley, 40, of Horatio Street E2 had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing and both were sentenced to three years and four months imprisonment.
The pair targeted office buildings in and around London in the early hours of the morning, donning hi-visibility work-wear, driving a van with window cleaning equipment in as a cover for their illegal activities.
They forced entry using crowbars, other tools or simply forced their way into the property. They also used their ladders to climb up to windows above ground level to gain entry.
Once inside, they searched the offices stealing numerous items including computers and IT equipment.
The total costs of stolen property and damage was in excess of £100,000.
Officers from Westminster CID investigated the case.
The pair were identified in relation to a burglary committed on 1 October in Mercer Street, Covent Garden WC2.
Two uniformed officers, who had been tasked to arrest them, stopped their van late on the evening of 15 October 2015 having just left Smythe’s address in Dufferin Street, EC1. The pair were arrested on suspicion of burglary.
In the van they found various items including hi-visibility jackets with the words “Fire Warden” on them and hi-visibility gloves, crow bars, angle grinders and bolt croppers. Smythe said these were for the window cleaning jobs they were doing.
To back this up, they had a “token” bucket of dirty water and squeegee in the back of the van.
After looking at the audacious method the pair used, detectives believed they could be responsible for similar burglaries over the past year and reviewed other offences in the area as well as surrounding Boroughs and identified numerous other burglaries that they could be considered for.
Using DNA taken from Smythe, CCTV images of the burglaries being committed and vehicles used and number plate recognition techniques, detectives were able to link 23 separate burglary offences between June and October to the pair.
The total reported value of the items stolen goods was £70,786.46 and the damage caused was £34,260.88.
They were charged with Conspiracy to Burgle on 17th October 2015 and have been remanded in custody since.
DC Tony Holley, the officer in the case for Westminster CID, said:
“This was a prolific series of burglaries by Smythe and Dudley across London.
“Smythe and Dudley were very considered in their criminal activities, operating in a methodical manner by intentionally appearing as legitimate overnight window cleaners then breaking in and calmly and thoroughly ransacking the offices.
“Many people think that crimes against businesses are victimless but some of these businesses are small with very tight margins and this sort of crime can be the difference between them succeeding and going under.”
