Four teenagers jailed for attack on Hackney woman in own home

Convicted: Ashley Allen, 19; Janny Mosy, 19; Daniel Watson, 18; and Devante Stephen, 17. Photographs: Metropolitan Police

Four teenagers who threatened a young Hackney woman and  subjected her to terrifying knifepoint robbery in her own home have been jailed.

The four were found guilty on 30 August, and on 5 October were sentenced to a total of 33 years.

Ashley Allen, 19 and Janny Mosy, 19, both of the Woodberry Down Estate, were sentenced to nine years.

Daniel Watson, 18, of Effington Road was also sentenced to nine years.

Devante Stephen, who is 17 years old and from the N4 area has now been named after the judge lifted reporting restrictions, received six years.

They will serve their sentences in a young offenders’ institute.

The court heard how the teenagers went to a flat in Green Lanes N16 at around 1 am on 8 December 2011, and forced their way in when the 22 year-old woman opened her front door.

Armed with a pistol and knives, the four threatened to to shoot her and demanded cash, warning they may put a plastic bag over her head.

She was slapped across the face whilst they ransacked her flat. One of them hit her over the head with what appeared to be a gun, causing a cut to the top of her head.

The Stoke Newington woman’s ordeal lasted about an hour, after which the men left with stolen cash, electrical items and her passport.

Police later stopped a vehicle that the four men were driving and when searched, knives, balaclavas, the victims possessions and cannabis were found in the boot of the car.

Following their arrest all four members of the gang pleaded not guilty.

Detective Constable Alex McCullough, of Hackney’s Serious Acquisitive Crime Unit, said: “This was an extremely violent offence committed by four men who used threats and the fear of violence.

“I hope the victim can draw some form of closure from the sentence and feel safe that the perpetrators are now in prison.”