Watch mugger grabs £145k Patek Phillipe from his drunken victim

A mugger got his victim drunk in a West End bar so he could grab his £145,000 Patek Phillipe watch, a court heard.

Lindell Angell, 32, was caught on CCTV walking down the road with the unsteady 51-year-old before he beat him unconscious.

He had befriended the man on the Strand, after spotting a jewel-encrusted timepiece on his wrist.

Angell convinced the man to go to a nearby bar where they drank for two hours and swapped numbers.

Later that evening Angell convinced the victim to head down a dark side street towards Embankment Tube where he was attacked

CCTV shows a man run jog past seconds before Angell suddenly grabs his victim wraps his arm around his neck and punches him until he falls to the ground.

Angell then wrenched the watch from his wrist and made off, leaving the man with facial fractures.

Police arrested Angell on 6 February when he was arrested in a hotel in Euston Road and found he had hired a lock-up six days after the robbery offence, where officers seized £12,000 in cash.

Sue Obeney, prosecuting, said: ‘Angell had purported to befriend the victim, spent a couple of hours in a pub, accepting his generosity, and finished by robbing and leaving him unconscious on the road.

‘At every turn he denied responsibility for the robbery.’

Lindell, of Amhurst Road, Hackney, was convicted by a jury of robbery and possessing criminal property.

Detective Constable Gemma Oganian, who led the investigation, said: ‘This was a brutal robbery which not only resulted in serious physical harm, but many months after the offence, the victim continues to recover from the psychological trauma.

‘People should be able to walk the streets of London and not fear this type of crime. We are doing everything in our power to ensure our streets our safe, and want to strongly reaffirm this to the public we serve. We will proactively investigate and seek tough sentences for offenders like Angell’.

The judge, Ms Recorder Maya Sikand, KC, remanded Angell in custody ahead of sentence on 13 January 2023.
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