'Sadistic' gang jailed for string of muggings

Three gang members who terrorised and robbed London Underground and inter-city train passengers were jailed for a total of 16 years yesterday.

The leader of the gang, Carl Perry, 17, from Alperton, north London, was jailed for six years for six robberies. Robert West, 19, from Wembley, received six years for four robberies, while his 18-year-old brother Mark, also from Wembley, was jailed for four years.

The men were sentenced at the Old Bailey after admitting their part in what the judge described as a "concerted campaign to terrorise and steal" from passengers.

The gang are thought to have been responsible for at least 20 robberies on the Tube and trains between London and Wolverhampton over 68 days at the start of this year. Their victims were either travelling alone or teenagers. A high proportion of the victims were young Asian men.

The gang would often instruct their victims to leave the train and accompany them to cash machines to make sure their credit card Pin numbers were correct. Sentencing the men, Judge Oliver Sells QC said: "It is clear that you took some real sense of pleasure in what you were doing."

John Jones, for the prosecution, said: "This team seemed to delight in sadistically intimidating their victims. Once they were in custody, the rate of mugging on the Underground plummeted."

He told the court their victims included a 14-year-old girl robbed of her mobile phone and £600 worth of jewellery in Harrow, north-west London.

James Bruce, a church worker who had broken a leg, was robbed of his mobile phone and wallet after getting on a train at North Wembley station. He was marched off the train and forced to hand over £600 after revealing his Pin number.