Sledgehammer gang's daring daylight jewellery raid foiled by 50 angry shoppers

A daylight jewellery store raid was foiled yesterday when members of the public wrestled a masked robber to the ground.

Five sledgehammer-wielding thieves arrived on motorbikes and smashed their way into the shop on a busy London street, grabbing armfuls of watches from the front window.

But as they made their getaway, passers-by pulled one from his bike and pinned him down until police arrived.

The four remaining robbers, who wore dark clothing and balaclavas, fled the scene and tried to hide in a nearby park, but three were caught.

Among the heroes outside the Ernest Jones jewellery store in High Street Kensington was Charlie Masud Riyahi, 51, who wrestles as a hobby.

 

Got him: The robber is pinned down by the crowd after smashing into the jewellery store in central London

Daylight robbery: A gang armed with sledgehammers smashed the windows of the Ernest Jones jewellery store in High Street Kensington before grabbing armfuls of watches worth around £400,000

Eye-witnesses told how a mob of more than 50 people tackled one robber as he tried to make his getaway in scenes of 'mayhem' similar to a medieval 'hue and cry' or a Hollywood film

‘When one of them tried to get away a group of people surrounded him and closed his way,’ he said.

He was trying to scare us with the sledgehammer. But when he got on the motorbike, someone knocked him off.

‘I jumped on his back and pinned him down to the ground. It was all over in a fraction of a second.

‘I used to do wrestling so it was really easy. I wasn’t scared of him at all and after that other people came to help me.’

Sam Dolling, 20, an electrician who saw the incident unfold, said: ‘It was like something from a film.

It was great how everyone went to help the guy who tackled him. He was so brave.

‘You don’t expect to see that nowadays. Most people would have just let them get on with it.’

Police also seized a bag of loot, although some items are still missing and the total value of what was stolen is unknown.

The gang had not reckoned with several brave members of the public who intervened to try and stop the heist

After the attack, one witness said she was almost knocked over in the street by a man running from the scene

One man was arrested at the scene after being detained by members of the public. Three other suspects were seized by police a short while later and a fifth suspect remains at large