Watch robber preyed on wealthy model

A watch robber who grabbed a £20,000 Rolex from a model  after pretending to flirt with him has been jailed for nearly seven years.

Dylan Davey, the CEO of a talent agency called The Social Inc, was brutally mugged for his designer timepiece along with Cartier bracelets and necklace in Richmond Mews, Soho.

In a heart wrenching statement read to the court Mr Davey said he attempted suicide after the robbery and has since emigrated to Spain.

The Rolex belonged to his father and was given to Mr Davey for his 21st birthday, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Afghan Ohmed Azizi, 31, along with an unknown associate, also took Mr Davey’s iPhone and bank cards during the attack on 29 April.

Carol Summers, prosecuting, said: ‘This was a violent robbery committed by this defendant and another male unknown. It occurred in the early hours of 29 April this year.

‘£46,000 worth of property was stolen.’

Mr Davey’s friend had noticed two men looking at the victim’s jewellery before he was robbed.

‘The defendant pretended to be flirting with Mr Davey,’ said Ms Summers.

They tried to take refuge in the Freedom Bar, but the security guard said only one of them could go in, the court heard.

CCTV shows Azizi leading Mr Davey to a secluded place and punching him.

The court heard that one of the bracelets had been cut from Mr Davey’s arm.

Azizi was caught on CCTV inhaling nitrous oxide at the scene. His DNA was later found in a balloon discarded shortly before the robbery.

Richard Paton-Philip, defending Azizim, said after fleeing Afghanistan as a child in the 1990s, Azizi had ‘fallen in with the wrong crowd.’

Azizi has previous convictions for burglary, carrying an imitation firearm, and rape in 2016, the court heard.

He was still on licence after being released for rape when he attacked Mr Davey.

Mr Davey, has since moved to Spain, but in a statement read to the court, he said: ‘You just never accept that it would happen to you.

‘Several days after the incident I attempted suicide and tried to take my own life by overdosing on tablets.

‘Luckily I have a lovely supportive family who stopped me and I realised it was not the answer.

‘This has obviously had a wider effect on my family too.’

Mr Davey’s mother also read a statement saying: ‘Dylan told me he no longer wanted to live in London any more.

‘After the attack he flew out to Spain and decided he would work there for the forseeable future.

‘It is very hard for me to accept as his mother that the people who attacked him have forced my son to move away to a different country.’

Sentencing Azizi, Judge Alexander Milne said: ‘Mr Davey had been at a bar and by the early evening found himself isolated in the street of central London.

‘He was clearly prevailed upon to go down a side street where he appears to have been pranged on the face before being violently attacked, chased, then attacked again by this man Omed Azizi and one other who had not been identified and remains at large.

‘The upshot of the robbery that evening in April in financial terms is the loss to Mr Davery of a considerable amount of expensive personal possessions.’

Among the possessions was a Rolex watch that had belonged to Mr Davey’s father, and which had been given to Mr Davey on his 21st birthday.

Judge Milne added that the attack ‘would have been distressing to anybody but in this case the psychological impact on the victim was pronounced and ongoing’.

Azizi, of Harrow, northwest London, sat with his head bowed for most of the hearing, occasionally weeping.

He admitted one count of robbery and was jailed for six years and nine months.

Detective Constable Harriet Barby, who led the investigation, said: ‘Azizi is a dangerous offender, who targeted a young man enjoying a night out with his friends in Soho.

‘This type of behaviour is intolerable and the lasting impact that such an unprovoked and violent attack can have on a victim is huge.’