Gang who rammed stolen vehicles through the fronts of YSL and Bottega Veneta stores and took more than £1 million in goods and sold them at a pittance are jailed

Published 29 October 2026, 17:30

• Ringleader Max Tyson, 26, once received just £1,800 for stolen items worth more than £30,000, less than six pence in the pound.
• A single raid on Lora Piana in Sloane Street netted more than 105 items, including a coat worth over £30,000.
• Detectives traced Tyson to a shop in Cornwall, where receipts in his name showed stolen goods had been resold for thousands.

A gang of five men who rammed stolen vehicles into luxury London boutiques and made off with more than £1 million worth of designer goods has been jailed, with ringleaders Max Tyson and Ryan Brough each sentenced to six years and five months.

Tyson, 26, of St Peters Street, Islington, and Brough, 34, of Courtney Road, Islington, both entered guilty pleas on two counts of conspiracy to commit burglary and were sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on 29 October.

The gang's combined sentences totalled 14 years and 10 months.

The five raids were carried out over three months between November 2025 and January 2026, targeting some of London's most exclusive fashion stores.

Their targets were high-end retail districts — among them Bond Street and Sloane Street — where the gang deployed vehicles to smash through the facades of YSL, Bottega Veneta, Lora Piana, and END Clothing on Broadwick Street, snatching whatever they could before making their escape.

The court heard that the combined value of goods stolen and damage caused exceeded £1 million.

The single largest raid came on 16 December 2025 at Lora Piana on Sloane Street, where the gang stole more than 105 items — including handbags, clothing, boots, and a coat valued at more than £30,000.

The total haul from that raid alone was worth nearly £385,000.

Detective Constable Will Wigzell, of the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad, described the raids as carefully planned and audacious.

"This organised crime group carried out a series of brazen smash-and-grab robberies across some of London's busiest shopping districts," he said.

"They carefully planned their offences, using stolen vehicles and mopeds in an attempt to evade detection, but thanks to the determination and expertise of Flying Squad detectives, they were identified and brought to justice."

Wigzell said the raids had lasting consequences well beyond the financial losses.

"These robberies have a lasting impact on businesses, their staff and the wider community, affecting livelihoods as well as causing significant emotional and financial harm through the threats, violence and intimidation involved," he said.

Three other members of the gang also appeared for sentencing.

Harry Johnson, 25, of Tilney Gardens, Islington, received a sentence of one year and ten months in prison after admitting to handling stolen goods.

Sonny Stringer, 29, of Essex Road, Islington, received a 22-month sentence suspended for 24 months, also for handling stolen goods.

Olivier Ndayizeie, 36, of Freegrove Road, Islington, received a 36-week suspended sentence of one year having admitted to a charge of encouraging or assisting an offence.

All five men are from Islington, north London.

Flying Squad officers cracked the case through an extensive review of CCTV footage and Automatic Number Plate Recognition data, combined with forensic analysis that proved the gang used multiple stolen vehicles throughout the spree.

Two pieces of evidence proved particularly damaging: one of the vehicles used to ram a shopfront was found to be insured in Ndayizeie's name, and DNA recovered from a scene was matched to Tyson.

Tyson's attempt to offload stolen goods by travelling hundreds of miles to a shop in Cornwall also unravelled.

Officers traced him there and found receipts in his name showing that stolen property had been resold to the shop for thousands of pounds.

The trip, intended to put distance between Tyson and the London investigation, instead handed detectives direct evidence linking him to the proceeds of the raids.

The gang consistently struggled to convert their hauls into cash at anything close to their true worth.

Messages uncovered during the investigation showed that on one occasion Tyson received just £1,800 for stolen items worth more than £30,000 — less than six pence in the pound.

Tyson and Brough were arrested on 23 January 2026, the same day as the gang's final raid on YSL on Bond Street.

A manhunt followed, and Stringer was arrested three days later on 26 January.

Johnson and Ndayizeie were identified as further members of the group and arrested on 10 February 2026.

The five offences unfolded in sequence across central London.

The gang first attempted a robbery at YSL on Bond Street on 11 November 2025, before successfully raiding Bottega Veneta on Sloane Street on 17 November.

They then hit END Clothing on Broadwick Street on 1 December 2025, carried out the Lora Piana raid on 16 December, and returned to YSL on Bond Street for their final job on 23 January 2026.

DC Wigzell said the outcome sent a clear message.

"These sentences mark a significant milestone in what has been a detailed and determined investigation," he said.

"I hope they demonstrate our commitment to tackling smash-and-grab robberies in London by pursuing those involved, wherever they are."