11 years for soccer star ‘gun’ raider
A MOTORBIKER who threatened to shoot top footballer Andy Carroll in a hair-raising high-speed chase was jailed for 11 years yesterday.
Jack O’Brien, 22, appeared to pull a gun on Carroll after riding up to him at traffic lights and demanding: “Give me your watch!” Fearing for his life, the West Ham striker did a U-turn in his Jeep and roared off.
He hit up to 10 cars as he weaved through traffic with O’Brien and a second biker in hot pursuit.
Carroll, 28, whose watch is worth £22,000, made it to the safety of his team’s Chadwell Heath training ground in east London.
O’Brien and his accomplice fled empty-handed.
He was identified by his Suzuki motorbike, helmet and jacket after detectives checked CCTV footage of the drama last November in Chigwell, Essex.
During the trial, O’Brien, of Romford, admitted using them in burglaries but said someone else had been riding the bike that day.
But he was found guilty of attempted robbery at Basildon Crown Court and jailed for six years. He was given a further five years jail for burglary and related offences.
Judge John Lodge told O’Brien that the footballer “had no idea if it was an imitation gun, an actual gun or you were just pretending”. He went on to praise Carroll, who he said “showed great courage and calmness” in a “terrifying robbery attempt”.