Yob guilty of Carroll watch raid
GEORDIE STAR ‘FEARED FOR HIS LIFE’ DURING THEFT ATTEMPT
A SERIAL thief who attempted to rob former Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll of his £22,000 wristwatch in a drive-by heist has been jailed for 11 years.
Motorbike-riding Jack O’Brien, 22, swooped on the Geordie player’s Jeep Wrangler near Hainault, north east London, as he was driving home from West Ham’s training ground last year.
He was found guilty of attempted robbery following a trial at Basildon Crown Court.
In a victim impact statement Carroll, who believed the defendant had a gun, said he “feared for his life” and now travels to and from training with security guards.
O’Brien, of Navarre Gardens, Romford, east London, was given a sentence of 11 years and three months for the attempted robbery on November 2 and a previous “campaign of burglaries”.
Judge John Lodge told him: “I have no doubt at all in saying that by reason of the planning of that sophisticated offence, the length of time that you pursued that vehicle, and that you were again using your motorcycle equipment as a disguise, you are at the very top of the bracket of culpability.”
O’Brien, who changed into an olive green turtleneck jumper between the verdict and sentencing, yelled “I never done it” as he was led down from the dock.
The defendant was found hiding below a mattress at a property in Dagenham, east London, when police went to arrest him 10 days after the botched robbery.
The 6ft 4in striker told the court the motorcycle driver approached his camouflage green vehicle and said: “Nice watch.”
As he went to drive off, the man said: “Give me your watch.”
Carroll told the court he then did a U-turn, but was pursued by two motorbike drivers.
The judge said: “I have no doubt that you targeted Mr Carroll, hoping to taking his watch from him. You anticipated that he would give up his watch and he did not.
“But you didn’t give up – you gave pursuit to his vehicle.
“You have heard from the 999 telephone call he was in some fear because by that stage you were purporting to threaten him with a gun and he had no idea if it was an imitation gun, an actual gun or whether you were just pretending.”
He was sentenced to five years and three months for five other burglaries, three attempted burglaries and handling stolen goods between September and November 2016, which he previously admitted.
For the attempt on Carroll, he was sentenced to an additional six years.
Referring to the footballer’s victim impact statement Simon Gladwell, prosecuting, told the court: “Obviously we heard this in evidence, he says that he feared for his life, that he honestly believed he had a gun and talks about how he now has two security guards to pick him up from training.”
Carroll twice gave evidence during the trial – once in person and a second time via video-link, having been whisked from training to Barkingside Magistrates’ Court by police escort.
He told the court he had seen the robber for about 10 seconds and later identified O’Brien in a police identity parade.
In a panicked 999 call played to the jury, Carroll told emergency responders: “There’s two motorbikes, one’s behind me pulling out a gun, I don’t know what to do.”
He added that he had “probably just hit about 10 cars” during his getaway.
No firearm was found by police and the second rider has not been arrested.
The judge said: “It is common knowledge that a professional footballer earns a great deal of money. It is perfectly understandable that they would want to spend the money they earn on high-value vehicles and high-value jewellery, as was the case with Mr Carroll.
“It doesn’t take an awful lot to work out that they train and in this case they train at a ground near your home, that they leave training at a specific time and take a specific route.”
A motorcycle helmet, Ducati jacket and a Suzuki motorbike were all seized. DNA matching the defendant’s was found on the helmet and jacket.
In mitigation, Michael Edmonds, defending, said O’Brien had “lost himself” to a network of criminals based near his home.
It was heard that similar items had been used for a string of burglaries by O’Brien last year, in which cash and jewellery worth thousands of pounds were taken.