Jewel thief gets life for street attacks on women

A "professional" criminal who targeted lone women in Hampstead, stealing jewellery worth £68,000 while out on licence has been jailed for life.

Kevin Nevers, 41, violently robbed nine women during a 13-month crime spree stealing gold and platinum rings.

The women were grabbed around the throat either on their doorsteps or in quiet side streets in Hampstead and Belsize Park.

Two victims were pregnant, while five had young children with them as they returned home from shopping. Nevers threatened to stab the women unless they handed over their jewellery and cash.

The first offence, in June 2005 when he stole a £4,000 ring from a 30-year-old woman in Frognal Way, took place less than two months after Nevers was released from prison on licence having served a seven-year jail term for a similar robbery .

Police were able to connect him to the crimes because of their similarity, and used mobile phone logs to jewellers in Hatton Garden and Kentish Town to prove his participation.

He was sentenced to life at Snaresbrook crown court on Friday after being found guilty of nine counts of robbery.

Judge Inigo Bing said Nevers had acted with "swift efficiency" and used his physical strength to rob the women. He will serve a minimum of 12 years before being considered for parole.

Detective Sergeant Paul Lincoln, of Camden community safety unit, said all the women, including a 71-year-old grandmother, had been traumatised by the attacks.

He said: "Nevers was a calculating and professional criminal who preyed on vulnerable women whose only crime was to own a valuable ring."