‘Brothel’ gang – Chandra Kelly, Chisom Eriken, Ali Shahali and one other – are jailed for Fordwych Road robbery

Published: 18th November, 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

A MAN was beaten up and slashed with a knife by a gang of robbers who mistakenly be­lieved his West Hampstead home was a brothel.

Four men, three of them teenagers, shouted “Where’s the stash? Where’s the girls?”, as they attacked the retired fork-lift truck driver in April earlier this year, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

They stole two laptops and a PlayStation before making off in a getaway car.

The victim’s house in Fordwych Road was targeted because it had been a brothel before being closed by police. 

Chandra Kelly, 22, from Windermere Avenue, Brent, was jailed for seven years;  Chisom Eriken, 18, from Ballards Lane, Barnet, for six years; and Ali Shahali, 18, also of Ballards Lane, and a 17-year-old, were sentenced to five years each at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

Kelly was found guilty, while the other defendants pleaded guilty to robbery earlier in the year.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Ben Tallick, from Camden Robbery Squad, said: “This appeared to be a pre-planned robbery at an address the convicted persons assumed was still a brothel. It quickly transpired, however, it was in fact the home of an innocent member of the public. 

“This did not deter them and they went on to assault and rob their victim in his own home. I would like to thank the members of the public who assisted with this investigation as without them, none of this would have been pos­sible.”