Chiswick Vodafone Robbery Decoy Sent to Jail
Role in mobile phone shop raid emerged after drug dealing arrest
Left: Tawana Tafirenyika. Right: the Vodaphone store on Chiswick High Road
A drug dealer who acted as a decoy during an attempted robbery at the Vodafone store on Chiswick High Road last year has been sentenced to three years and two months in prison after investigators linked him to the offence while probing separate drug-dealing activities.
Tawana Tafirenyika, 22, of Hill Road, Keresley End, Coventry, pleaded guilty to three counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and offences of attempted robbery. He was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on 28 October.
The case sheds new light on an attempted robbery at Vodafone's Chiswick branch on 27 June 2025, an incident that occurred during a period of rising concern about organised gangs targeting mobile phone retailers across London.
According to investigators, Tafirenyika entered the Vodafone store in Chiswick posing as a genuine customer and engaged staff in conversation. Two associates then forced their way into the premises and attempted to gain access to a secure stockroom containing mobile phones. Staff members were threatened and pushed towards the rear of the shop, but the offenders fled empty-handed when they were informed that police had been called.
Later the same day, a similar attempted robbery took place at a Vodafone store in Sutton. Police established that Tafirenyika had played the same role in both incidents, acting as a decoy to gain access before his accomplices entered the stores.
In response to a rising number of attempted robberies last year, both the Vodafone and Three stores on Chiswick High Road began operating locked-door policies during trading hours, requiring customers to be admitted by staff or security personnel.
At the time, Vodafone said its Chiswick store had been operating a closed-door policy since early June and described an "alarming surge in aggressive robberies and attempted robberies" affecting telecommunications retailers across London and the South East. The company said threats and violence associated with such incidents posed risks to both staff and customers.
Chiswick had previously been affected by a violent robbery at the EE store on the High Road in October 2024, carried out by a gang later jailed for offences linked to at least 13 attacks on mobile phone shops.
On 7 May 2025, Thames Valley Police officers in Reading observed activity they believed was linked to drug dealing. When they attempted to stop Tafirenyika, he fled before being detained. Police recovered discarded wraps of crack cocaine and heroin and subsequently linked him to the drugs through forensic evidence.
Less than two weeks later, officers again encountered him during what they suspected was a drug transaction on Goldsmid Road. He attempted to escape on a bicycle but was arrested after officers recovered cash, a drugs line number and almost three grammes of crack cocaine.
The robbery investigation advanced further the day after the offences when officers stopped a white van linked to both attempted Vodafone robberies. Tafirenyika was found inside the vehicle and was in possession of a knife.
Investigating officer PC James Dunwell, of the Reading Neighbourhood Disruption Team, said: "This sentence reflects the seriousness of Tafirenyika's offending and demonstrates our determination to target those involved in the supply of harmful Class A drugs and wider organised criminality."
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