A HAYES man who used an online market place to set up meetings with his unsuspecting victims before robbing them has been jailed for eight years.

Abdullahi Ahmed ,18, of Central Avenue pleaded guilty at Harrow Crown Court to five counts of robbery and one of theft.

Ahmed used the website Gumtree to arrange to meet his victims - all of whom were selling items.

For three weeks in April, Ahmed struck on six separate occasions across London.

On one occasion,  the victim was getting out of his car in Ealing when Ahmed ran past and snatched his phone. He subsequently called the victim and gloated he had stolen his phone.

Ahmed met a man selling a laptop in Hayes. He handed more than £1,100 in cash to the victim, who then got into his car. Ahmed forced his way into the passenger seat, threatened the victim with a knife and robbed him of the money he had just paid and the laptop.

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In Uxbridge, a man had advertised his phone for sale on Gumtree and Ahmed arranged to meet him. During the meeting, Ahmed took the phone and intimated he was in possession of a knife before running off.

All the offences were reported to police and officers began to piece together the events. Through analysis of phone records and the victims' testimonies Ahmed was identified as a suspect.

He was arrested at his home and, during a search, a number of the stolen items were recovered.

Det Con Huss Ahmed said: "Ahmed used threats of violence to intimidate and rob his victims of their property.

"His actions have had a devastating impact on some of his victims. I can only hope this sentence provides some comfort to them."