Police release image of man suspected of muggings

Published 25 March 2010
by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS

POLICE have released an image of the man they suspect is behind a spate of armed robberies in the Adelaide Road area of Swiss Cottage and Chalk Farm in an urgent appeal for information.

Victims of the  attacker are said to be “traumatised” by the four robberies, which took place between Sunday and Thursday last week.

The man has been described as black and in his 20s or 30s. He is between 5’7 and 6’3 and was wearing dark clothing.

The first time the gunman struck, on Sunday March 14, he approached a couple in an Adelaide Road tower block as they entered the lifts and produced a gun before forcing them into their home to rob them.

The following evening, the same suspect tried to rob a 47-year-old woman outside her home in Lisburne Road in South End Green. Just minutes after that failed attempt he struck again, this time targeting a woman in her mid-twenties in Chalcot Gardens off Haverstock Hill. He approached her from behind as she was entering a communal doorway and pressed a gun to her head, demanding cash.

Last Thursday, police believe the same man carried another robbery in Tudor Close in Belsize Park and minutes away from Chalcot Gardens. This time he approached a 30-year-old woman as she was entering her block of flats, produced a gun, grabbed her handbag and ran away.

A police press officer said: “The robberies, have been linked by detectives due to the description of the suspect and the method in which they were committed.”

Police have urged members of the public to dial 999 rather than approach the suspect. Anyone with information can call Detective Sergeant Muddy Waters on 020 8733 6116 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.