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A gang of moped raiders were yesterday (Thursday) found guilty of the theft of £1million worth of mobile phones and tablet computers in a series of 17 burglaries.

The Islington-linked gang smashed their way into mobile phone shops across London and scooped up armfuls of electronic items before fleeing on stolen mopeds.
Ten men have been convicted for their involvement in the raids. Police said that the men would “arrive on mopeds wearing crash helmets and dark clothing, smash their way into the stores armed with a variety of weapons and ransack the stockroom”.

CCTV of the raids shows the gang moving confidently and with purpose. In one instance, unable to access a storeroom, they smash their way through a partition wall and clamber through the hole.

In one robbery, a witness was threatened with a firearm, police said. Chang Mabiala, 21, of Union Square, Islington, was convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary alongside four others.

But their crimewave came to a halt when detectives from the Met’s Operation Vocare tracked the route of the stolen phones using the inbuilt GPS trackers.

In one raid in Walthamstow in October last year, police cars and a helicopter engaged the suspects in a high-speed pursuit. One of the gang threw away a phone, which was later found to show the suspects plotting the robberies in an exchange of messages, including details of the weapons they planned to use.

The second stage of the trial ended in convictions of all defendants at Blackfriars Crown Court yesterday.

Chang Mabiala, 21, of Union Square, Islington, was convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary alongside four others.

Alfie Kennedy, 21, of Arlington Avenue, Islington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary during the first trial in August. Four other members of the gang were found guilty at the same trial.

Detective Superintendent Sean Yates said: “These men are very dangerous criminals.”