Man, 35, jailed after pushing baby out of pram to steal £80,000 designer watch from dad's wrist
19 September 2023, 09:13
A 35-year-old man has been jailed after pushing a baby out of a pram to steal an £80,000 designer watch.
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Amine Benchoula, 35, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday to four years in prison for robbery and assaulting a baby.
The crime happened on Saturday 24 June when the victim, his wife, their baby and his brother were walking on St James’ Square towards their vehicle.
The victim was preparing to put his baby into the vehicle when Bechoula ran up behind him, grabbed his wrist and yanked off his £80,000 Patek Philippe watch.
During the ordeal, Benchoula knocked the baby out of the pram onto the pavement and ran away from the scene with the stolen watch, heading towards Waterloo Place and Pall Mall.
Detective Sergeant Daniel Northcott, who led the investigation, said: “This was a terrible robbery that would have had a detrimental impact on the victim and his family.
“The fact that Benchoula has shown no regard to the welfare of the victim’s baby while committing such a heinous act was of deep concern to me and my team, and we worked hard to ensure the hunt for the suspect was intensified.
“Through the hard work and dedication of the officers on my team, we were able to apprehend the suspect and charge him promptly. With the wealth of evidence against him, he had no choice but to plead guilty at court.”
The victim and the baby sustained minor injuries from the incident.
The baby was taken to the hospital out of precaution but both father and child did not suffer any serious injuries.
The crime was caught on CCTV, which captured an image of Benchoula and was then circulated, leading him to be spotted by officers from the Violence Suppression Unit on Friday 9 July.
He was arrested in Edgware Road on suspicion of robbery and on recall from prison.
He was wearing the exact outfit he wore when he carried out the robbery: Tracksuit trousers, trainers and a baseball cap.
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The stolen watch has not been recovered.
Detective Chief Inspector Scott, from the Central West BCU, said: “The Met is putting more officers into local policing and focusing on issues that matter to Londoners.
“Robbery is a priority for our communities across Central West BCU and we are taking proactive steps to identify harmful offenders and work with partners to prevent these offences from taking place.
“Across London officers are out day in, day out, conducting targeted patrols in robbery hotspots to identify, apprehend and deter potential offenders. We also have dedicated teams out on intelligence-led operations to target repeat offenders.”
