Bermondsey man to be sentenced for armed robbery

Marlon Myrie pleaded guilty to one count of affray, two counts of attempted theft, six counts of theft, three counts of armed robbery, one count of a "steaming" robbery and asked that a further 14 offences be taken into consideration.

Myrie is one of five men due to be sentenced in connection with the gaming machine thefts and betting shop robberies across the capital.

The five variously netted thousands of pounds during a year-long prolific spree, targeting a number of companies including Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral bookmakers. A number of building societies, banks and shops were also targeted.

Some of the suspects would criss-cross London to commit crime, sometimes targeting more than one venue in a single day. One or more of them would enter premises with others yet to be identified and arrested, whilst one remained at the door to act as a lookout. The rest would then produce crowbars and screwdrivers and proceed to break open cash boxes from gaming machines, emptying the cash either into their pockets or into laundry bags.

On one occasion, the manager of one of the bookmakers was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver.

Following a lengthy, joint investigation by officers from the Territorial Policing Crime Squad (north) and the Flying Squad at Barnes, all five pleaded guilty to a combination of charges including armed robbery, theft, attempted theft and actual bodily harm relating to crimes committed between June 2003 and May 2004.