The ‘fence’ for a team of ruthless armed robbers i

The ‘fence’ for a team of ruthless armed robbers is now
facing years in jail.

Michael Mendosa, 44, tried to off-load thousands of pnds stlng
of jewellery stolen from an upmarket Knightsbridge boutique to
dealers in South Africa.

He was arrested as he drove from his home in Aldenham Avenue,
Radlett, Herts, to Heathrow to collect an unwitting courier who
was returning from a successful trip to Cape Town.

At Mendosa’s plush home, police found more antique jewellery
from the raid hidden in the handle of a clothes brush.

He denied handling stolen goods but was convicted by an Old
Bailey jury today Tuesday.

Sentence was adjourned.

The courier who Mendosa was to have collected from Heathrow
after a successful South Africa trip was cleared of the same
charge.

Gary Skone, 47, of The Reddings, Mill Hill, n.

London always
maintained he would never have got involved if he knew the
jewellery was stolen.

More stolen jewellery was recovered from two unwitting Cape
Town jewellers – Myra Harris, of 78 Church Street, Cape Town,
and Elizabeth Powell, also of Cape Town.

James Lawson, 32, of Bartholomew Road, Kentish Town, and his
brother Alexander, 29, of Geary House, Geary Street, Holloway,
denied they were the robbers.

Both men claimed they were the victims of mistaken identity
and James Lawson’s wife gave evidence to say he was with her at
the time of the raid on July 31, 1991.

They were cleared of robbery and having a firearm with intent.

The jury had been told a bogus postman claimed he needed a
signature for a registered letter to fool the sales manager of
McKenna’s antique jewellers in Beauchamp Place, near Harrods,
Knightsbridge into opening up early.

Two other robbers suddenly burst in and pulled a gun on
victim Mr Robert Nunn.

The raiders took the precaution of removing the in-store
security video as they fled with virtually the entire shop’s
stock, then ran past the external Harrods security video.

The profesionally executed raid left detectives with no
firm leads as to the robbers’ identities.

But they picked up the trail again through a covert
surveillance operation on a north London man who was suspected
of orchestrating the raid.

Mendosa was seen meeting with him in August last year and
was arrested on the M25 en route to Heathrow on September 6.

No date was given for the sentence.

ENDS