{"id":93401,"date":"2025-05-11T18:50:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T18:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/93401\/"},"modified":"2025-05-11T18:50:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T18:50:14","slug":"gang-of-asylum-seekers-armed-with-knives-stole-70000-of-hermes-handbags-from-knightsbridge-store-court-hears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/93401\/","title":{"rendered":"Gang of asylum seekers armed with knives stole \u00a370,000 of Hermes handbags from Knightsbridge store, court hears"},"content":{"rendered":"

A gang of asylum seekers who were living in a hotel raided a high-end Knightsbridge department store armed with knives and stole Hermes handbags worth more than \u00a370,000, a court heard.<\/p>\n

The raiders struck the Design Exchange in west London<\/a> on 20 October 2024, it is alleged.<\/p>\n

Ken Duncan, a 57-year-old fruit delivery manager, was said to be the getaway driver for the heist.<\/p>\n

Duncan allegedly drove three of the migrants to Brixton<\/a> afterwards – but told police officers in an interview he had no idea he\u2019d assisted a robbery.<\/p>\n

The transport manager, who works delivering fruit to offices around London, was found by police with a Rambo knife and a pack of balaclavas in his car.<\/p>\n

His truck –\u00a0alleged to have also carried three of the raiders – was discovered with bags of expensive clothes inside, a court heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asylum seekers Tyrease James, 21, and Akeem Lutchman-Singh say they were forced into robbing the retail store by two older Caribbean men by the names of Romeo Grannam, 37, and Acton Francis, 40.<\/p>\n

At Isleworth Crown Court today, Duncan\u2019s post-arrest interview with detectives was relayed to the jury.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A gang of asylum seekers who were living in a hotel raided a high-end Knightsbridge department store, a court heard<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The alleged robbers were armed with knives and stole Hermes handbags worth more than \u00a370,000 from the upmarket boutique<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The men are now currently on trial at Isleworth Crown Court (pictured) in West London and faces lengthy custodial sentences if found guilty<\/p>\n

He told officers that he thought he was helping his friends drop off a few of their friends to Brixton.<\/p>\n

He described being \u2018sat there for a few minutes\u2019 on Brompton Road before one of the men he had driven to the location and two others \u2018jumped in\u2019 his car.<\/p>\n

Duncan said that he knew something was \u2018not right\u2019 \u2013 but he said he was \u2018just probably ignorant.\u2019<\/p>\n

He was asked about all the bags found by police.<\/p>\n

But Ducan said he couldn\u2019t see all the bags piled up behind him.<\/p>\n

Following up, the investigator said: \u2019Obviously what was recovered from your vehicle was quite a few bags – I struggle to picture how you wouldn\u2019t have seen them\u2026could you explain to me?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Because they came from behind me – so I\u2019m still on my phone like this so I didn\u2019t know anything – all I saw was my doors just open, they get in and Natalie is driving off.\u2019<\/p>\n

An officer asked: \u2018At any point did you sort of look behind you at all?\u2019<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The store in Knightsbridge, one of London’s most exclusive shopping districts, allows customers to buy, sell and exchange authentic preloved designer handbags and clothing by luxury brands including Gucci, Chanel and Hermes\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

An interior shot of the Design Exchange which was allegedly targeted by a gang of asylum seekers\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The alleged getaway driver’s truck was reportedly discovered full of bags of expensive clothes and designer handbags, the court heard<\/p>\n

\"Co-defendant <\/p>\n

Co-defendant Tyrease James said in his prepared statement that he was \u2018forced\u2019 into committing the robbery by two \u2018extremely dangerous’ Caribbean males<\/p>\n

\u2018No, because I\u2019m just concentrating\u2019, Duncan answered.<\/p>\n

\u2018Did you see them with masks, balaclavas, anything like that?\u2019 Balaclava packets that were found, do you know where they came from?\u2019, asked the investigator.<\/p>\n

Duncan, who was initially arrested for being in possession of an offensive weapon, was asked why his car was found with a \u2018Rambo knife\u2019 inside.<\/p>\n

He reiterated that he did know why he was driving the men but accepted that his mind did \u2018start wondering\u2019 during the trip to Brixton.<\/p>\n

At the end of his interview, Duncan told the police: \u2018I\u2019ve never been involved in anything in my life.<\/p>\n

\u2018For all this to happen and then to be told it\u2019s a robbery with a knife – I\u2019m in shock.\u2019<\/p>\n

In a prepared statement provided after his arrest, alleged robber Lutchman-Singh said he was \u2018forced by two males to burgle the Design Exchange on 20 October 2024.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m an asylum seeker from Trinidad, I had to leave Trinidad because of serious concerns about my safety.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The alleged getaway driver Ken Duncan, a 57-year-old fruit delivery manager, claimed\u00a0he thought he was helping his friends drop off a few of their pals to Brixton<\/p>\n

\"Officers <\/p>\n

Officers also reportedly found a ‘Rambo knife’ inside the truck of the alleged getaway driver<\/p>\n

\"All <\/p>\n

All four men accused of carrying out the robbery deny aggravated burglary with intent and the trial continues<\/p>\n

\u2018I had fears for my life which is why I burgled the Design Exchange.\u2019<\/p>\n

Co-defendant James said in his prepared statement he was \u2018forced\u2019 into committing the robbery by two \u2018extremely dangerous’ Caribbean males.<\/p>\n

\u2018I am an asylum seeker because of grave concerns about my safety in Trinidad – the people who forced me are linked to my issues in Trinidad,’ he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018There were genuine fears I may be subject to serious harm unless I burgled the Design Exchange.\u2019<\/p>\n

Duncan, of South Norwood, Croydon, Francis, of Upper Norwood, Croydon, James, NFA, and Grannam, also NFA, all deny aggravated burglary with intent.<\/p>\n

Lutchman-Singh, of no fixed abode, denies aggravated burglary with intent and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.<\/p>\n

The trial continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A gang of asylum seekers who were living in a hotel raided a high-end Knightsbridge department store armed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[44030,51,92,257,12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-93401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-brixton","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114490705577638592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}