THREE men from Finchley have been jailed for a total of eighteen years between them for a violent robbery at a house they mistook for a brothel.

Chisom Eriken, Ali Shahihali, both 18 of Ballards Lane and Chandra Kelly, 22, of Windermere Avenue were all sentenced over the incident at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

They were part of a group who targeted the 33-year-old man in the front garden of his home in Camden and forced him into his house on April 23 this year.

They then assaulted him, slashing him with a kitchen knife from his own kitchen, during which they shouted at him “Where's the stash? Where's the girls?”.

The victim suffered a severed a tendon in his right hand and has been left permanently scarred by the attack.

Eventually they gave up and stole two laptops and a games console before fleeing in a waiting getaway car.

Detectives discovered the house had been targeted because it had traditionally been used as a brothel, but was shut down by Camden Police.

Detective Constable Ben Tallick, of Camden's robbery squad, said: "This appeared to be a pre-planned robbery at an address the convicted persons assumed was still a brothel.

“It quickly transpired however, it was in fact the home of an innocent member of the public. This did not deter them and they went on to assault and rob their victim in his own home.

“I would like to thank the members of the public who assisted with this investigation as without them, none of this would have been possible.

"I am pleased to see them imprisoned and hope this reassures the victim and the community that we are dedicated to bringing perpetrators of robbery to justice."

Eriken was jailed for six years, Shahali to five years and Kelly to seven years, while a 17-year-old was given a five-year sentence.