A pair of asylum seekers who brazenly stole a £25,000-valued watch in Central London last year will not face prison time, a court has ruled.
Egyptian Yousef Garef and Algerian Amin Abdelkadar had targeted Kris Smith in Soho, in London’s West End, in the early hours of July 21 last year in a violent attack which saw the pair rob Smith’s gold Rolex Day Date.
25-year-old Abdelkadar had covered Smith’s mouth as he screamed “Don’t take my watch!” at the pair – but Garef, 21, nabbed the timepiece off his wrist under cover of darkness.
Donna Longcroft, prosecuting, said: “Mr Smith was approached by a male on an e-scooter, who was keenly interested in his watch.
Smith had turned into Soho’s Old Compton Street when he was robbed by the pair
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“About 30 minutes later the victim was walking along Dean Street in Soho.
“He turned right onto Old Compton Street, and was approached by a male in a white bucket hat, who introduced himself as Yousef.
“They walked along Old Compton Street towards Wardour Street. Another male followed and spoke to Garef.
“Garef grabbed the right hand of the victim and put his hand over the watch… Abdelkadar hugged the victim and covered his mouth as Garef tried to take the watch. The victim was shouting: ‘Don’t take my watch! Don’t take my watch!'”
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Yousef Garef and Amin Abdelkadar targeted Kris Smith in Soho
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Judge Adam Hiddleston told the pair: “You followed and attacked a member of the public with the intent of stealing from him a valuable watch.
“Such offending has become a scourge of the West End. They have become an all too frequent occurrence in the past few years.
“These offences took place in the early hours of the morning. You were both acting as part of a group and you were targeting high value property.”
But despite the judge’s stern condemnation, the offending duo were spared jail time – Abdelkadar was given a two-year community order, while Garef was handed a three-year community order.
Lord Goldsmith condemned the ruling as “sickening and unbelievably stupid”
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Hiddleston ruled that the pair will have to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, 40 hours of a “rehabilitation activity”, and a six-month curfew between 9pm and 6am while they reside at a Home Office Asylum Centre in Islington, North London.
Alongside their conditions, the men have been slapped with a five-year criminal behaviour order – and have been barred from entering the western half of the City of Westminster and having any contact with one another.
Reacting to the ruling, former Conservative MP Lord Goldsmith issued a scathing social media statement, which read: “This is sickening and unbelievably stupid. It places the state squarely on the side of people who terrorise and rob the innocent – and squarely against everyone else.
“It beggars belief that these people haven’t already been deported. This is the behaviour of a civilisation that has simply given up.”
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