Three men jailed for London phone shop robberies worth up to £150,000

Three men were sentenced for a series of violent robberies and attempted robberies at mobile phone shops across London, in which phones worth an estimated £150,000 were targeted. The case highlights how the adult ringleaders used social media to organise young participants, while shop staff and customers faced threats and assaults.

Between 28 May and 9 June 2025, the gang targeted six O2 and Three stores in areas including Lewisham, Woolwich and Sutton. Prosecutors put the minimum value of stolen phones at £128,000, with the likely total around £150,000; police arrested the men during an attempted raid on an O2 shop in Sutton. Sammie Govera, 32, received 13 years and six months in prison, Kevlin Duarte, 20, 22 months in a young offenders’ institution, and Louis Pandanzyla, 19, an 18-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work.