This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/london/6143734.stm
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Sadistic robbers jailed for life | Sadistic robbers jailed for life |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A gang of armed robbers have been jailed for life for kidnapping people off the streets and subjecting them to "sadistic and gratuitous violence". | |
| More than a dozen pedestrians and motorists in London were beaten and stripped of their valuables. | More than a dozen pedestrians and motorists in London were beaten and stripped of their valuables. |
| London's Wood Green Crown Court heard one man had his arm broken and another was tortured with a cigarette lighter. | London's Wood Green Crown Court heard one man had his arm broken and another was tortured with a cigarette lighter. |
| Pedro Frota, 19, Sofian Majera, 22, and Robert Lincoln, 18, all from east London, admitted 17 robberies. | Pedro Frota, 19, Sofian Majera, 22, and Robert Lincoln, 18, all from east London, admitted 17 robberies. |
| The court heard they cruised London at night armed with guns, knives and baseball bats looking for victims. | The court heard they cruised London at night armed with guns, knives and baseball bats looking for victims. |
| Homophobia and racism | Homophobia and racism |
| People they kidnapped were stripped of their valuables and warned they would be tortured or killed unless they handed over their pin numbers. | People they kidnapped were stripped of their valuables and warned they would be tortured or killed unless they handed over their pin numbers. |
| Threats ranged from being shot and having their throats slit to their eyes being gouged and being burnt alive. | Threats ranged from being shot and having their throats slit to their eyes being gouged and being burnt alive. |
| The jury was told the gang broke the arm of one victim who was so frightened he could not tell his attackers what they wanted to know. | The jury was told the gang broke the arm of one victim who was so frightened he could not tell his attackers what they wanted to know. |
| Luis Frota got a four-and-a half year sentence for his part | |
| Francis Sheridan, prosecuting, said it was made clear homophobia and racial hatred occasionally played a part in the selection of victims. | Francis Sheridan, prosecuting, said it was made clear homophobia and racial hatred occasionally played a part in the selection of victims. |
| In the dock were: Jamaican national Lincoln, 18, from Barking, east London; Rwandan Majera, 22, from nearby Dagenham; and Portuguese national Frota, 19, also from Barking. | |
| Also before the court was the only gang member to avoid a life sentence. | Also before the court was the only gang member to avoid a life sentence. |
| Frota's older brother Luis, 22, got four-and-a-half years for his lesser role. | |
| Judge Witold Pawlak told Lincoln, Majera and Pedro Frota they must serve a minimum of seven years before they could be considered for parole. | |
| Each of you is addicted to violence and you treated your victims as though they were characters in an arcade game Judge Witold Pawlak | |
| "Your crimes were usually late at night. You hunted in a pack and your violence was sadistic and gratuitous," the judge told them. | |
| "In fact, each of you is addicted to violence and you treated your victims as though they were characters in an arcade game." | |
| The offences took place between 31 August and 14 December last year. | The offences took place between 31 August and 14 December last year. |
| All four defendants, who have previous convictions, face deportation after their sentences have been served. | All four defendants, who have previous convictions, face deportation after their sentences have been served. |