Watch robber was Algerian refugee on give month crime spree

An asylum seeker who stole a designer watch and a Chinese student’s suitcase in a five month crime spree has been jailed for 38 weeks. Algerian Sami Rakene, 28, targeted Edward Barnett for his Patek Philippe timepiece in Shoot Up Hill, Kilburn, northwest London on 26 October. Mewesh Shah, prosecuting, said police officers in an unmarked car saw what they thought was a phone snatch taking place. ‘Officers followed and detained Rakene,’ said Mr Shah. ‘They went back to the…