A man who violently stole phones off innocent victims after messaging them on Gumtree has been jailed. On one occasion Blake Aghedo stabbed a man in his 60s in the face with a screwdriver to steal his phone.
Aghedo's crimes came to light after a number of people made police reports saying they had placed their phones for sale on the second hand selling website Gumtree, only for them to be violently robbed by him when they met to carry out the transaction. The 23-year-old would message the victims pretending to be a legitimate customer who wanted to buy the phone for sale.
A price would be agreed as well as somewhere to meet to carry out the transaction. It was at this point Aghedo would rob the victims, often with weapons.
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On one occasion he pulled out a machete when one of the victims showed resistance, and also stabbed a man in his 60s in their face with a screwdriver type weapon. There was total of 40 incidents reported to police relating to robberies of a similar nature.
An investigation was launched and Aghedo was tracked and arrested in 2020 after being monitored on CCTV.
On June 22, Aghedo, of Lower Seedley Road, Salford, was sentenced to six years in jail after pleading guilty to conspiracy to rob, conspiracy to steal, theft, robbery, possession of a bladed article, attempted theft and wounding.
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Detective Inspector Natalie McDonald, of GMP’s City of Manchester Central Neighbourhood Crime Team, said: "Aghedo had a clear set-up, planning the offences carefully. The victims were understandably traumatised by these incidents.
"This showcases the lengths we take in our investigations - no matter how organised or sophisticated the group or individual may be, we will thoroughly investigate and put offenders away in jail. I would like to extend my thanks to the victims, who bravely came forward and have assisted our investigation throughout and also the officers that contributed over the last 3 years – their hard work and continued dedication does not go unnoticed and has ensured that dangerous criminals are now off our streets as we worked hard to put together various pieces of evidence in order to build a timeline of events.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to warn the public to be wary of unrealistically low prices, brand new accounts on second hand buying platforms and an insistence that any payment is always in cash and collection in person. If people do decide to go through with a sale avoid meeting the seller in unlit or remote areas, don’t go alone, and do not take the item directly."
Following the hearing, a spokesperson for Gumtree said: "At Gumtree, we do not tolerate the use of our platform by bad actors and we were pleased to support Greater Manchester Police to help secure this conviction. The safety of our users is our absolute priority, and our dedicated safety team works closely with law enforcement to keep our community safe."
A spokesperson for Gumtree said: "At Gumtree, we do not tolerate the use of our platform by bad actors and we were pleased to support Greater Manchester Police to help secure this conviction. The safety of our users is our absolute priority, and our dedicated safety team works closely with law enforcement to keep our community safe."
