‘Rolex ripper’ gang snared by undercover police posing as wealthy couple

Dramatic CCTV footage shows the moment a brazen ‘Rolex ripper’ gang mistakenly targets a pair of undercover police officers posing as a wealthy couple as part of a sting.

Yakob Harket, 21, can be seen lunging for the female officer’s wrist, where she wore a replica Patek Philippe Rose Gold watch as part of the ruse, in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, on October 10.

The officers grappled with the robber while another undercover officer wearing a suit ran from the other side of the road to join in the arrest.

Harket managed to run off down the street but was swiftly detained, alongside two of his accomplices.

He pleaded guilty to robbery at Southwark Crown Court.

Mohammed Naas, 34, was convicted of robbery by a jury after a three day trial.

Yanis Amri, 37, and Adel Mohamdi, 31, were convicted in their absence after they absconded.

Henry Laidlaw, prosecuting, said the undercover officers, referred to as A and B, were ‘tasked with walking around while posing as a wealthy couple’.

He went on: ‘Each were wearing expensive watches. Officer B (male) was wearing a Rolex Sky Dealer watch, worth £40,000.

‘Officer A (female) was wearing a replica Patek Philippe Rose Gold watch. The real version had a value of approximately £70,000.’

Jurors were shown several clips showing the officers walking from Berkeley Square to Hays Mews on the evening of October 10.

Naas, Amri and Mohamdi had followed the couple relaying information to Harket.

Moments later Harket was seen reaching forward to grab Officer A’s wrist.

‘He ripped the Patek Philippe watch off her wrist but dropped it, so it was recovered,’ said Mr Laidlaw.

‘You will have seen there, there were a large number of plain clothes officers who sprang into action.

‘Mohamadi and Naas were arrested right next to the offence.’

Harket and Amri were arrested in the area minutes later.

Sentencing was adjourned until June 2.

Mayfair now has the highest rate for watch robberies in Europe.

Earlier this week Algerian Anis Benemri, 28, was jailed for 32 months for robbing tourist Karl Christian Septien of his £250,000 ‘Bubba Watson’ watch in front of his children outside the Novikov Restaurant on Berkeley Street.

A spokesperson for the Met said: ‘Tackling violent crime is one of the Met’s priorities and we are determined to reduce the number of robberies.

‘Uniform and plain clothes officers proactively patrol robbery hotspots to identify offences taking place, but more importantly to help prevent and deter offenders from committing robberies in the first place.’

Arrest warrants were issued for Mohamdi and Amri.

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