1st July, 2024
A deadly bank armed robber, Mohammed Basheeru has been jailed for 12 years in London in connection with the Sydenham bank robbery.
Basheeru, 44 was jailed for an armed robbery carried out at a bank in Sydenham after swift analysis of evidence helped police to identify him.
Basheeru, 44 also known as Sonni Reid, of London Road, Croydon appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday, 28 June where he was sentenced to 12 years in prison having pleaded guilty to robbery at an earlier hearing.
Police were called at 11:26hrs on Monday, 14 February to reports of an armed robbery at a high street bank in Sydenham.
The court heard that two men wearing face coverings entered the premises and demanded that the cashier open the till while she had a gun pointed at her by his accomplice.
According to the police, the pair stole a quantity of cash and then made off with the money down Venner Road, where they were seen by a witness.
Detectives from the Met’s Flying Squad seized CCTV footage which captured the two men four minutes later in a road close to the incident, leaving in a car, away from the scene.
Officers established that the same vehicle was used to collect Basheeru from his home address before travelling towards the bank.
The police said CCTV footage inside the bank showed suspects entering the bank, saying that officers were able to identify Basheeru using the footage by the slight deformity on his left ear, as he was already known to them.
Detectives said the evidence collected led to Basheeru being interviewed where he denied any involvement in the robbery and was charged with the offence and pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on 9 April, 2024.
The police added that Dorian Rankine, 43 of Beulah Road, Thornton Heath, appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Friday, 27 January 2023, where he pleaded guilty to robbery and two other unrelated robberies and was sentenced to ten years in prison.
Detective Constable, Craig Prout from the Flying Squad said this was a terrifying incident for the people involved, expressing gratefulness for their support, which had now meant that the two offenders had been brought to justice.
