A Suffolk man who was part of an organised crime group that looted more than £465,000 worth of designer goods in a series of ram-raids across London has been sentenced.

Jamie Claydon, 28 of Ipswich Road, Newbourne, along with Martin Dunne, 37, Gary Lynch, 32, Anthony Alleyne, 54, and Omar Bakali, 28, smashed several luxury clothes stores last year using stolen vehicles and a sledgehammer.

The first burglary took place on at 3.30am on July 14, 2020, at Selfridges in Oxford Street where two vehicles - an Audi S4 bearing a stolen number plate, and a Jaguar S-Type, which was on cloned number plates - approached the store.

The Jaguar reversed through the entrance doors and five males ran into the store before stealing a number of Valentino and Balenciaga handbags.

The second burglary occurred at 4.05am on July 24, 2020, at Celine on Mount Street when a Volkswagen Golf reversed through the entrance door at speed causing extensive structural damage.

Five males again ran into the store and stole a number of handbags before abandoning the one of the cars.

Images and messages found on Bakali’s phone revealed he had tried to sell the handbags the following day.

The third offence took place just after midnight on October 9, 2020, at the Italian skiwear store Moncler in Old Bond Street.

CCTV evidence showed the group meeting in a residential area in Chalk Farm and as with the earlier offences the group turned their mobile phones off at the meeting point in order to evade detection.

They smashed their way through the entrance door with a sledgehammer.

They stole a number of jackets, bags and other items of clothing and fled the scene.

Officers conducting surveillance in Epping later that day found Claydon in a van with a haul of Moncler clothing in bin bags.

He was arrested on suspicion of handling goods and released under investigation.

The five men were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, December 22.

Claydon admitted a further count of handling stolen goods and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years.

Dunne, of Foxes Parade, Waltham Abbey, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Bakali, of Hopefield Avenue, Kilburn, was jailed for four years and four months.

Alleyne, of Peckham Road, Peckham, was sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment.

Lynch, of Tudor Close Highgate, was handed two years and eight months’ imprisonment.