Thief pushes baby out of pram to steal £80,000 watch from dad’s wrist | UK News

A watch thief threw a baby out of a pram as he tore an £80,000 Patek Philippe from his dad’s wrist.

Amine Benchoula ran up behind his victim and grabbed his wrist as he got ready to strap his baby into a car seat at St James’ Park in June.

The 35-year-old knocked the baby out of the pram and onto the pavement before running away with the watch in the direction of Pall Mall.

Both the robbery victim and the baby sustained minor injuries.

Benchoula was later spotted by officers on Edgware Road on July 9, wearing the same clothes he wore when he carried out the robbery.

Benchoula admitted robbery and assault on the baby and was jailed for four years at Southwark Crown Court.

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.

‘Unfortunately, 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.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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