Two jailed for armed raids on three London hotels
Two armed robbers who stole thousands of pounds at gunpoint from three London hotels have been jailed for more than 20 years.
Dymtro Shcherbinskyy, 42, of Romford east London, and Ghislain Kiamuangana, 34, of no fixed address, were sentenced to a combined 22 years, following a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday (12 December).
Their first target had been a hotel on Southwark Bridge Road, Southwark, on 3 January 2022. The men had entered the hotel with their faces covered and threatened two members of staff at gunpoint.
The employees were forced into a back office, where their legs and hands were bound, and they were forced to give the combination to a safe. After ransacking the safe the thieves made off with around £4,000.
Six days later the men targeted a hotel in Canning Town. The pair entered and pointed a gun at a member of staff. On this occasion they left empty handed as the staff member could not gain access to the safe.
On January 14 2022, a third robbery targeted a hotel in the City of London where an employee was held at gunpoint while the two men stole £3,000.
Police identified that the same van had been used in all three crimes, with the numberplates changed each time. Investigations revealed CCTV of the Sprinter van being filled up in Lakeside, Essex and Shcherbinskyy was identified.
Surveillance eventually revealed a meeting between Shcherbinskyy and Kiamuangana, the gunman, in a block of flats in Greenwich. Two firearm warrants were executed at their known addresses and they were both arrested.
A CO2 powered firearm and relevant clothing were seized from Kiamuangana's address. Live rounds of ammunition, the stolen van and numerous sets of number plates were found at Shcherbinskyy's address.
Both men were convicted of two counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery and three counts of possessing a firearm amongst other offences. Kiamuangana pleaded guilty in June 2022 and Shcherbinskyy pleaded guilty following a short hearing in July 2023.
Shcherbinskyy, was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment, Kiamuangana, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in total. This included a sentence for theft, after stealing £12,000 from a safe, while working at a hotel in 2021.
Detective Sergeant Lee Warrington, from the Met's Flying Squad, said: "The effect of such crime on individuals long after court cases come to a close cannot be understated and I would like to commend the bravery of the victims who suffered a truly disturbing ordeal at the hands of these men.
"Thanks to the dedicated work of the officers involved in this operation, a firearm and live ammunition were taken off the streets, and two dangerous criminals have been brought to justice."
Detective Inspector Colin Bishop, of the Major Crime Team at City of London Police, said: "This was a very serious case of armed robbery in the City and a terrifying ordeal for the victims, who were threatened with violence, and we were determined to do everything in our power to bring the perpetrators to justice.
"We worked closely with our colleagues from the Flying Squad to secure this conviction and put these offenders behind bars. A vital part of our investigation was obtaining CCTV evidence of the offenders fleeing the scene in a van with cloned plates. This revealed that the crime was linked to previous robberies investigated by the Metropolitan Police Service and ultimately led to their successful arrest."
Image: Met Police
