Dad dies in ‘first killing’ by moped muggers
A YOUNG father who was stabbed in the neck by a moped mugger had his Rolex watch ripped from his wrist as he lay dying.
Danny Pearce, 31, was ambushed by two men as he left a jazz bar with his girlfriend in Greenwich, south-east London.
Witnesses described a flurry of shots as a gun – held by the second man – was fired, although no one was hit, before they stabbed him and made off with the £5,000 watch.
The victim is believed to be the first person to die in Britain’s moped crimewave. Police are struggling to tackle thugs who steal machines before using them to claim dozens of victims in robbery sprees. Just one gang in London, comprised of boys aged between 15 and 17, was responsible for an astonishing 103 offences in 18 days.
A manhunt is under way for the two men responsible for the murder on Friday of Mr Pearce, an electrician and construction site worker who lived with his girlfriend and toddler daughter.
Speaking as he laid flowers at the murder site yesterday, a friend said: ‘They tried to take his stuff and there was a boy holding out a gun, and because he didn’t give it to them the other guy jumped off the moped and stabbed him in the neck.’
Last week, five delivery drivers were targeted by thieves who doused them in acid before trying to steal their mopeds.