A man has been jailed indefinitely for a series of knife-point robberies.

Mohammed Attaur Rahman, 33, would follow his victims away from built-up areas before threatening and robbing them of their belongings.

Police in Tower Hamlets, where the robberies occurred, became aware of the pattern in July last year and the Serious and Acquisitive Crime unit began an investigation.

They put out patrols and trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage from across the borough before identifying Rahman.

On Friday Rahman, of Bradbury Street, Dalston, pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery at Snaresbrook Crown Court and was sentenced to indeterminate imprisonment for public protection with at least three and a half years.

Det Insp Mike Duncan of the Serious and Acquisitive crime unit said, “This was a series of knife enabled robberies which have had a significant impact on the victims.”