Two teenagers who tried to steal a judge’s £15,000 motorbike from a court carpark have been jailed. The two youths rode into the grounds of Snaresbrook Crown Court on mopeds. They arrived at around two in the afternoon on 16 April 2021. Shay Hollis, 18, and Deon-Dre Rogers-Barrett, 19, came across the judge’s motorbike along with an accomplice who remains at large. They began to wheel the BMW R 1250GS Adventure TE Rallye away but were challenged by a member of security who Hollis threatened with a machete.

Fearing he’d be seriously injured, the guard fled inside the building and the duo began pushing the motorbike away from the courthouse. But security at the court in East London quickly shut the gates, leaving them trapped inside. This forced them to dump the bike and leave their own mopeds, helmets, angle grinder and the machete and climb over the fence, fleeing on foot. The police were swiftly called and an area search was conducted but no suspects were found.

The discarded items were seized, forensically examined and an investigation was started by officers from the Met’s Operation Venice. The unit focuses on tackling moped and motorcycle crime and theft. One of the discarded mopeds was found to be registered and insured to Rogers-Barrett, while the other items were forensically linked to him and Hollis.

Both were arrested on 27 May 2021