Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

For the second time in five days, the Met deployed live facial recognition technology in Croydon resulting in eight people being arrested.

This action from officers on Tuesday, 23 January is a direct result of listening to community concerns about serious violence and other issues like theft and criminal damage in the Croydon area.

Live facial recognition technology is used in order to be more precise in how we tackle crime and identify wanted offenders. It assists the Met in targeting people who are most responsible for causing serious violence.

As a result, eight people were arrested for the following:

• A 25-year-old woman for failing to appear at court for the offence of criminal damage;
• A 21-year-old man for failing to appear at court for theft;
• A 23-year-old man for failing to appear at court for theft;
• A 26-year-old man for failing to appear at court for theft from motor vehicle;
• A 39-year-old man for failing to appear for drugs-related offences;
• A 32-year-old man wanted for failing to appear for theft;
• A 21-year-old man wanted on a recall to prison for the offence of burglary;
• A 23-year-old man wanted for breach of tag conditions.

Lindsey Chiswick, responsible for live facial recognition in the Met, said: “As part of our commitment to deliver a better service for communities we are listening to local feedback and deploying this technology to local areas to tackle crime. Identifying harmful criminals has always been a fundamental part of policing, but we are adapting this with the assistance of technology. Where there is no match, all images are immediately and automatically destroyed. Live facial recognition technology allows us to more efficiently identify offenders and reduce harmful criminality on our streets.”

Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain, who leads policing in Croydon, said: “We hope people in Croydon who have shared concerns about crime in their area can see how we are using a range of tools to help reduce this. Officers have made 13 arrests using live facial recognition during the last two deployments in Croydon covering a range of offences. Local officers have been supporting the deployments to inform residents about how we are using this.”

Ahead of the deployment police upload images of criminals who are wanted onto a database. The technology in real time scans people’s faces who are walking through an area to see if there is a match.

+ More information about live facial recognition can be found on our website.

Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

Two men responsible for buying blank firing handguns and converting them into live weapons were intercepted and arrested after a number of suspicious purchases were investigated by the Met’s Specialist Crime Command.

Afzaal Ahmed, 26 (13.07.97) of Henderson Way, Kempston and David Watson, 29 (20.05.94) of Midland Court, Kempston appeared at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday, 16 January 2024 where they were sentenced to a total of 19 years in prison.

They both pled guilty to the following firearm offences at an earlier hearing:

– Possession of two converted handguns to supply to another
– Possession of one converted submachine gun to supply to another
– Possession of ammunition
– Conspiracy to convert blank firing pistols into firearms

Officer in charge of the case, PC Yahya Sayed, for Specialist Crime North said: “These men were part of a dangerous organised criminal network actively involved in the purchase and conversion of blank firing weapons and ammunition, capable of endangering and taking lives.

“I am pleased to see these men held accountable for their actions and to know that these lethal weapons have been removed from the streets of London and beyond.”

In June 2022, the Met became aware that Ahmed had purchased 14 blank firearms and accompanying ammunition from a dealership in London. Whilst the blank firearms were supplied by an authorised dealer, the volume of purchases within a short period of time raised officers’ suspicions.

An investigation was launched and officers discovered that Ahmed had also made a number of blank firearm purchases at two other dealerships in the Midlands and London.

On 16 June 2022, officers carried out a covert operation in order to monitor Ahmed’s movements. This is when they uncovered his connection to his accomplice David Watson.

Ahmed picked Watson up in his car, driving to various locations across Bedford. He and Watson were seen to enter a specific business address in Ampthill Road on several occasions. Watson was later seen to enter a lockup garage in Houghton Regis, before returning to Kempston and joining Ahmed.

As a result of the information gathered, both men were arrested by Bedfordshire Police firearms officers on the evening of 17 June at the address on Ampthill Road.

Officers’ recovered a converted Ekol ASI sub machine gun, loaded with live ammunition, and two converted Retay self-loading pistols, both loaded with live ammunition, in a caravan at the back of the compound on Ampthill Road, Kempston.

The lockup garage in Houghton Regis was also searched by officers and was being used as a gun conversion factory. It contained the necessary tools to convert firearms, along with further rounds of ammunition, both blank and converted, packaging for blank firing pistols, and the remnants of metal used in the conversion process.

Analysis of their mobile phones revealed that both men had been in regular contact, discussing the purchase of component parts, and the conversion and onward sale of firearms.

Ahmed was also found in possession of a mobile phone linked to the supply of cocaine and cannabis.

Following the investigation, the CPS authorised charges against both men and they were remanded in custody.

On Tuesday 16 January, Afzaal Ahmed was jailed for a total of ten years for the firearms offences, plus an additional one year and three months for the drug offences. This was reduced to a total of seven years and nine months due to his early guilty plea.

David Watson was sentenced to a total of nine years in prison for the firearms offences. This was reduced to six years due to his early guilty plea.

PC Sayed added: “We will continue to pursue those that engage in this type of criminality and put members of the public at risk by supplying lethal barrelled weapons.”

Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

Police are appealing for information following an antisemitic attack in Wembley.

On Friday, 13 October 2023, a man reported he had been assaulted while on Kingsbury Road, NW9.

He told officers that a group of men had approached him and asked whether he was Jewish. He then moved away and attempted to take a photo of the group which prompted one of them to return and punch him in the face.

Officers are now releasing an image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the attack.

PC Catherine Brady, leading the investigation, said: “This assault left the victim incredibly shaken and we know it has caused concern within the wider community.

“Hate crime of any kind is not something we tolerate and we have been carrying out enquiries to establish who is responsible for this offence.

“Anyone who recognises the man in this photo or has any other information about the incident should call 101 with reference 4001/13OCT23.”

You can also provide information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

A man will appear in court charged with rape and sexual assault following an investigation by detectives in Barnet.

Ahmed Fahmy – 45 (17.01.79) of West Heath Drive, NW11 will appear in custody at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 24 January charged with one count of rape and four counts of sexual assault.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between 2008 and 2024 and relate to five different women.

Fahmy was employed or purported to work at a hotels where some of the offending took place. An investigation was launched after police received separate allegations of rape and sexual assault on Sunday, 21 January 2024. Fahmy was arrested the same day and, following further investigation by detectives, further offences were identified. He was subsequently charged with five offences

Details of the charges are:

– Rape of a woman in relation to an offence on 20^th January 2024 that is alleged to have taken place at the Anchor Guest Hotel, West Heath Drive, NW11.
– Sexual assault of a woman in relation to an offence on 20^th January 2024 that is alleged to have taken place at the Anchor Guest Hotel, West Heath Drive, NW11.
– Sexual assault of a woman in relation to an offence on 10^th March 2023 that is alleged to have taken place at the Anchor Guest Hotel, West Heath Drive, NW11.
– Sexual assault of a woman in relation to an offence at a date between 1^st March 2022 and 31^st March 22 that is alleged to have taken place at the Sunborn Yacht Hotel, Western Gateway, E16.
– Sexual assault of a woman in relation to an offence on a date between 1^st January and 31^st December 2008 that is alleged to have taken place at Alliance Close, Wembley.

Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

A man who refused to accept that a woman he shared a house with did not want a relationship with him has been convicted of her murder after he brutally attacked her.

Sheldon Rodrigues, 30 (28.11.93) of Willenhall Road, Hayes was found guilty of the murder of 39-year-old Stephanie Hansen following the conclusion of a trial at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, 23 January.

Rodrigues was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on Friday, 8 March.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil John from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command led the investigation and said:

“For years Stephanie Hansen tried to extricate herself from Sheldon Rodrigues’ attention, attempting to make him understand that there was no chance of their friendship developing any further. Rodrigues refused to accept this and embarked on a campaign of persistent harassment over this time, a campaign that became more intense and sinister as it reached its violent conclusion.

“Stephanie was brutally attacked in her own home by someone she had known for years. It was clear she had become exhausted by Rodrigues’ persistent attention and was trying to find a way out.”

The court heard how Rodrigues and Stephanie had known each other since around 2015, prior to them moving in together at the house in Willenhall Road in 2022 where Rodrigues would carry out his vicious attack. For Stephanie, the reason for this cohabiting was to share bills and the general cost of living. Rodrigues desperately wanted an intimate relationship with Stephanie while she only wanted them to be friends.

Throughout the time they knew each other, Rodrigues would consistently send messages and make comments to Stephanie about his desire for them to be in a relationship. However, his behaviour became more sinister in the second half of 2022 when Stephanie began a relationship with another man.

Rodrigues’ comments intimated threats of violence to both Stephanie and her partner, while his behaviour became fuelled by paranoia.

He sent anonymous messages to Stephanie’s workplace in an attempt to undermine her new relationship and purchased covert monitoring equipment, including spy cameras and listening devices, which he installed around their house.

In November 2022, while Rodrigues was abroad in India, analysis showed he dialled into a covert listening device in the house to hear what was going on inside the house for an average of five hours each day.

On his return in late November, Rodrigues’ behaviour continued. On 10 December he followed Stephanie’s partner in his car, paying someone to drive him. He also sent an anonymous message to the man threatening his family.

Throughout December, Rodrigues continued to bombard Stephanie with messages and comments, urging her to end the relationship while on other occasions admitting that he had been a ‘psycho’.

Stephanie confided in her boyfriend that she was going to have to move away, clearly fearing that Rodrigues’ behaviour was escalating. On the morning of 30 December, it came to a shockingly violent conclusion.

Rodrigues arrived home from work at around 06:00hrs, knowing that her boyfriend had recently left the house after spending the night. Even though he had been at work, Rodrigues spent the majority of his shift utilising his covert monitoring devices to eavesdrop on what was going on in the house. When he returned home he launched a ferocious attack on Stephanie, stabbing her multiples times. Given the frenzied nature of the attack, he sustained cuts to both of his hands in the process.

Immediately, he began his attempts to cover up his crime and lay the blame on Stephanie’s boyfriend. Rodrigues called his work saying he wouldn’t be in that night as he had cut his hand while washing up; he then went out to a chemist to get bandages to treat his wounds. He also sent messages to Stephanie’s phone intimating she was still alive and had gone shopping.

It was only at around 10:00hrs the following day that Rodrigues called the emergency services, pretending that he had just found Stephanie’s body. Officers attended and spoke to Rodrigues who immediately attempted to point the finger of blame on Stephanie’s boyfriend, but his story quickly began to unravel. Noticing open bandage packaging within the house, officers enquired about any injuries – Rodrigues claimed he had cut his hand while cutting a chicken on Christmas Day, however, the cuts were still open and appeared fresh.

Officers checked CCTV from his work which showed him there on the 29 December, interacting with colleagues including giving one a high-five which caused him no discomfort – at no point was he wearing bandages.

Further analysis of CCTV from outside the house in Willenhall Road showed that Stephanie’s boyfriend had left the house on 29 December, shortly before Rodrigues returned home.

With evidence mounting, Rodrigues was charged with Stephanie’s murder.

DCI Neil John added: “While this conviction will do little to ease the intense pain that Stephanie’s family and friends continue to endure following her death, I hope it reinforces the Met’s determination to hold those who inflict violence against women and girls to account.”