Hardened Lithuanian criminal jailed after abusing open borders to fly into Britain to raid
A HARDENED eastern European criminal used lax freedom of movement rules to jet into Britain unchecked and raid the Queen’s jewellers.
The Lithuanian criminal has got 12 years in jail for raiding the Queen's jewellers
Lithuanian serial robber Rimantas Borisovas who led a gang that raided the jewellers stealing 20 Cartier watches worth more than £125,00 has now been jailed for 12 years.
The 32-year-old masterminded the robbery which raided the Mappin and Webb in London’s West End armed with a handgun and claw hammers.
One of the men, who was dressed in a black suit, disguised with a curly blonde wig and make up, pointed a handgun at a security guard.
The gang stole Cartier watches in the Westend store
We believe he is part of a Pink Panther-type gang that have been able to go across country borders to target high-end jewellers
Borisovas then “launched a frenzied hammer attack” on a Cartier display cabinet before escaping Britain to Poland 24 hours after the jewellery robbery.
On June 10, 2014, Borisovas who used cheap Ryanair flights to get around Europe, flew into Stansted. Less than 48 hours later he had carried out the raid on the Regent Street jewellers.
Borisovas grabbed 20 Cartier watches after they smashed a display case with a hammer and him and his gang fled in different directions.
The gang used cheap flights to get around Europe
Detective Sergeant Ben Kennedy, of the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad, said: “We believe he is part of a Pink Panther-type gang that have been able to go across country borders to target high-end jewellers.
“We think it was highly organised and they have exploited freedom-of-movement rules to fly into the country to commit crime and fly out very easily. They could have committed other offences here.
“The Met worked with European law enforcement partners to bring him to justice and I am pleased that the lengthy custodial sentence the judge handed down reflects the seriousness of the crime.”
The criminal was caught when he flew from Poland to Stansted
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The police believe that the gang exploited freedom of movement rules and used cheap flights to get in and out of the UK for the raids.
Borisovos was sentenced last week at Kingston Crown Court after police matched blood he left at the scene of the 2014 raid to crimes carried out in Germany and Lithuania.
When he first flew to the UK, he had just been released early from a five-year sentence in Germany for steading 13 BMWs.
The criminal was put on a border watch list and when he flew into Stansted from Poland in November last year, he was caught.