The men were jailed for more than 20 years, with the case built on evidence gathered during days of surveillance, double shifts and CCTV trawls.

The work led to the removal of two dangerous men, as well as a CO2 powered firearm and ammunition, from the streets of London.

Dymtro Shcherbinskyy and Ghislain Kiamuangana were jailed on Tuesday, 12 December for a total of 22 years for robberies committed at three London hotels, following a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Detective Sergeant Lee Warrington, from the Met’s Flying Squad, said: “Combining forces to capture these two criminals was absolutely essential, and the detectives on the team used a range of specialist techniques to bring the offending to a halt as quickly as possible. Our objective was to stop anyone else coming to harm.

“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.”

The investigation began following the first crime at a hotel on Southwark Bridge Road in Southwark, on 3 January 2022. The men entered the hotel in the early hours of the morning with their faces covered and threatened two members of staff with a gun, forcing them into a back office. The employees’ legs and hands were tied and they were forced to provide the combination to a safe. After ransacking the tills and safe the men stole around £4,000. 

Following the initial robbery, detectives trawled through CCTV and quickly made a key discovery. The robbers had used a stolen white Sprinter van on cloned number plates, and later in the investigation, this proved a vital piece of evidence.

Six days later, a further robbery was committed at a hotel in Canning Town. The men were dressed in similar clothing to the previous robbery. They entered and pointed a gun at a member of staff. Another staff member managed to escape after being chased by Shcherbinskyy. The pair eventually left empty handed as the staff member was unable to gain access to the safe. CCTV enquiries revealed the same van being used but it was displaying different number plates.

On 14 January, a third offence took place at a hotel in the City. An employee was held at gunpoint whilst the two men stole £3,000. CCTV showed the same van being used but again on different number plates, with the suspects wearing the same clothing.

Shcherbinskyy was identified following extensive CCTV and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) enquiries, which led detectives to the discovery of a stolen Sprinter being filled up in December 2021 at a petrol station in Lakeside, Essex.

Following the identification of Shcherbinskyy, Met detectives carried out a street trawl around Romford as they believed he was staying in the area, and they found the Sprinter van outside an address. A surveillance operation took place over nine days, with officers working double shifts, to ensure no further offences were committed while they attempted to identify the gunman.

Eventually, a meeting was observed 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.

Dymtro Shcherbinskyy, 42 (15.11.81) of Blossom Close, Romford who played a leading role was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.

French national Ghislain Kiamuangana, 34 (28.07.89) of no fixed address 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.