Courtney White, whose gang carried out moped robberies in London, has been convicted of possessing a gun after claiming eczema may have left his DNA at the scene

The ringleader of a gang of moped robbers is finally facing jail after a jury rejected his claims his DNA was only at the crime scene because of his eczema.

Courtney White, 22, headed a band of raiders who repeatedly attacked Three Mobile shops, armed with hammers, knives and a gun in a £1million crime spree.

But he claimed his bad eczema means he sheds his skin wherever he goes that was why his DNA was found at crime scenes.

White twice used his poor skin condition as a defence while on trial for moped-enabled crimes and was cleared each time.

He was accused of stealing a Rolex from a man as he tried to park his Ferrari in north London in August last year.

White used his eczema problem as a defence to explain his DNA being found at the scene and he was cleared.

He was also forensically linked to a balaclava found on Tottenham Marshes after a moped raid at a pawnbrokers on Wood Green High Road on 15 January 2015.

White's gang smashed their way into mobile phone stores before making off on mopeds

White claimed he had borrowed the hat for go-karting and paintball and was again cleared of involvement in the robbery.

But White now faces jail next week with nine other moped raiders after a jury rejected the defence a third time and he was convicted of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.

Members of his gang threatened to shoot security guards in the head if they got in their way.

They left two police officers with cuts after a violent struggle during another raid at a Wood Green store.

Police recovered a loaded 9mm handgun, said to have been during the robbery spree, in the back of a green Peugeot 206 on December 2 last year, three days after the gang's final raid.

White’s DNA was found on the barrel of the ejection chamber, prompting Judge Michael Simon to remark: ‘That is not the best place for your DNA to be found.’

Police released this image of the variety of weapons and tools the gang used during the raids

In a defence statement White said he did not know how his DNA was found on the gun but added he ‘suffers from eczema’.

He was finally convicted of possession of a prohibited firearm after a short trial at Wood Green Crown Court.

White has previous convictions for possessing knives and residential burglaries dating back to 2009, when he was 14.

He was sentenced to 12 months in young offenders’ institution in 2013 for robbing a gold chain from a 76-year-old woman’s neck in 2013.

White was handed a suspended jail sentence in November 2015 for handling jewellery stolen during the vicious mugging of a 61-year-old woman in north London.

White, of Tottenham, north London, denied but was convicted of possession of a prohibited firearm.