Selfridges Robber Convicted

By John Stratford, 12th January 2012, 11:09

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An armed robber's been convicted of a smash and grab raid on London's famous Selfridges store, thanks to evidence gained from an armed robbery in Northampton.

Michael Sharpe, 40, (right) was one of a group of men jailed in May 2011 for the raid on the Michael Jones Jeweller's store on Gold Street, Northampton which made grandmother Ann Timson, 71, world famous.

As the men - armed with sledgehammers - tried to smash their way into the jeweller's, Ann was caught on camera running up to them and attacking them with her shopping bag.  You can watch the video below.

DNA evidence recovered after the raid in Northampton on Monday 7 February 2011 was later found to match DNA on a slegehammer found in Oxford Street, London after a smash and grab raid on Selfridges on 29 December 2006.

During that raid at 2.30am, more than £300,000 worth of watches were stolen.  Police initially were unable to link the DNA recovered from the sledgehammer to any individual, but that changed thanks to the work of Northamptonshire Police.

Sharpe appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday 10 January 2012 and pleaded guilty to burgling Selfridges in December 2006.  He was sentenced to three and a half years, which he will serve after he has finished the six and a half year sentence he received in May 2011 for the offence in Northampton.

Detective Inspector Bob Currie from the Met Police's Westminster Crime Squad said "This conviction, even five years after the offence, shows that police will continue to pursue offenders until they are caught and brought to justice.

"Thanks to the hard work and support of our colleagues in Northamptonshire Police we were able to link the suspect to the scene of the crime in Oxford Street and put him before the courts."

This is the video that caught Ann Timson breaking up the attempted armed robbery in Northampton, 7 Feb 2011