A man, suspected of carrying out five muggings on women around Belsize Park was arrested this morning after a resident found him sleeping in the stairwell of a tower block, the Ham&High has learned. The resident was delivering pamphlets for the Lib Dem pa

A man, suspected of carrying out five muggings on women around Belsize Park was arrested this morning after a resident found him sleeping in the stairwell of a tower block, the Ham&High has learned.

The resident was delivering political pamphlets for the upcoming elections at around 7.30am this morning when he spotted a man fast asleep on the stairwell of the 20th floor of Dorney tower on Adelaide Road.

Aware of the recent spate of muggings in the area and after seeing efit images of the wanted man the resident became suspicious.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he told the Ham&High: "I saw him around 7.30 and he was snoring away on the stairs but I did not just want to call the police in case I was wasting their time. I went back home and my wife asked me 'check if he has a beard' because that was part of the description of the attacker. I went back to check for a second time and saw that he had one. I thought right that's it. I got the number to call the police from the Ham&High article and rang it. The police were here within minutes.

"I was not involved in anything else but I assume he was still asleep when they turned up. It looks like on this occasion politics has done some good."

Officers from Camden's robbery squad swooped on Dorney backed by armed support.

The man, who is believed to be of Africa origin was then taken away to be questioned in connection with the spate of gun point robberies on women the most recent of which was just last night.

The latest incident saw a woman robbed on her doorstep in Lambolle Road, Belsize Park and although no gun was produced, police believe it was the same suspect who carried out four armed muggings in the space of five days last month.

The latest victim was also an Oriental woman - as was the case in three of the four previous attacks.

The mugger struck first on the evening of Sunday March 14 targeting a women and her boyfriend at Burnham tower on Adelaide Road.

Women were also targeted in Chalcot Gardens, Lisburne Road and Tudor Close in the following four days. One of the victims, a business analyst, was mugged for just �15 and has since left the country because she was so traumatised.

Officially police will not confirm whether the man found asleep in Dorney is the suspect in the muggings but sources say they are "optimistic" about the development in the case. The Ham&High understands the arrested man was not known to police and is still being questioned at a police station in the borough.

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