Ex-boxer’s relief after trio are jailed over violent carjacking
FORMER BOXER and carjacking victim Michael Watson said he feels justice has been done after the three culprits – branded “modern highwaymen” by a judge – were jailed.
Mr Watson, who was left suffering flashbacks and seizures after the violent attack last year, told of his relief that the men are now off the streets.
The 53-year-old, who was disabled after suffering a near-fatal brain injury during a fight with Chris Eubank in 1991, was dragged at least 150 metres (492ft) along the road as a gang of robbers tried to steal the car he was travelling in.
The former sportsman, who kept his eyes trained on the culprits in the dock at Snaresbrook Crown court for much of the sentencing, told how he has been left feeling anxious and nervous since the attack.
Mr Watson, a former world title challenger, was a passenger in the Volkswagen Golf when it was shunted from behind and then commandeered by one of the assailants in Chingford, east London, on February 16, 2017.
Mr Watson’s friend and carer Lennard Ballack, who had been driving the car, was attacked by Paul Samuels, who sprayed a clear liquid in his face.
The pair and a third man, Anselm Legemah, were also found guilty last week over an attack two weeks earlier in Loughton, Essex, during which they sprayed ammonia at the driver of a car, causing him permanent eye damage, and injured the female passenger who had been celebrating her 16th birthday.
Luck and Samuels were found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and applying a corrosive fluid with intent to burn, maim, disfigure or disable, or to inflict grievous bodily harm.
Legemah was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and applying a corrosive fluid and jailed for 16 years.
Luck, 29, and Samuels, 31, both of east London, were each sentenced to 16 years in prison in relation to the carjackings.