Prolific Moped Mugger Jailed for Eight Years

Jake Cramp targeted women carrying handbags

Jake Cramp

A 24-year-old man who committed a string of robberies on a moped around the local area has been sent to jail.

Jake Cramp of Acton Lane, W4 targeted women carrying handbags sometimes seriously injuring them during the robbery. He was jailed for a total of eight years and nine months at Isleworth Crown Court, after being found guilty of a number offences including six robberies, theft, attempted robbery, fraud and possession of an offensive weapon.

Between 5 and 12 April of this year Cramp committed 15 offences across west London in Ealing, Acton, Barnes, Hammersmith, Chiswick and Isleworth.

In all but one case, his intended victims were women with handbags, and on occasion he threatened or used violence with a baton. Cramp either snatched the bag from behind whilst on his moped and sped off, or committed the offence on foot before making his escape on the moped. On a number of occasions, the victim suffered injuries after their handbag was forcibly tugged causing them to fall to the floor.

One had her bag pulled so hard it caused her to fall face first onto the pavement, fracturing her shoulder and causing facial injuries. Another was knocked unconscious.

The first victim was a 73-year-old woman whose handbag was snatched in Ashbourne Road, W5 on 5 April. The bag contained around £3,000 in cash.

On 7 April he knocked over a victim who suffered head injuries and bruising on Wellesley Road, Chiswick. The same day he took a handbag from a 63-year-old woman at the entrance to Chiswick Staithe Estate leaving her with a fractured shoulder which requires physio, and head injury from fall. He returned to Wellesley Road on 10 April and his 50-year-old victim suffered a head injury following a struggle and fall. He committed a number of offences in the Barnes area that same day before returning to Chiswick and assaulting a woman with a baton in the course of a robbery on British Grove. Despite this he did not manage to steal the bag and the victim was unhurt.

On 12 April he tried to steal a handbag from a woman on Woodstock Road. Immediately before, he had stolen a man’s briefcase. The victim tried to stop Cramp escaping and was hit in the face with a broken wing mirror which had fallen off his moped after a crash.

After one robbery, he used one of the victims debit cards and withdrew £190 in cash from a nearby cash machine.

During each offence, he wore a bright yellow crash helmet with a black visor which enabled the police later on to link the offences.

One of the victims took a picture of Cramp. The moped used in the robberies was located near to Cramp’s home address.

Subsequent CCTV enquiries led officers from the Met’s Operation Venice team, who led the investigation, to Cramp.

Cramp was arrested on 19 April after officers executed a search warrant at his home where they found property stolen during the robberies. He was charged with a number of offences a short time after.

Chief Inspector Jim Corbett from Operation Venice said, “Jake Cramp callously went out on each of these days with the sole intention to rob and steal, brazenly targeting women and sometimes resorting to further violence.

“Operation Venice officers quickly linked the offences and then closed in on Cramp, who was identified within a week of the spate of incidents and arrested.

“This jail sentence sees another criminal removed from London’s streets of London. The Operation Venice team is tireless in its mission to bring people involved in moped-enabled crime to justice, and making London a safer place.”

Cramp was sentenced on Tuesday, 29 October.

November 2, 2019