Fugitive suspect in Cavendish robbery ‘hiding near his house’
Suspected gangster was spotted just weeks ago, say neighbours as court hears two men are still at large
A SUSPECTED gangster who has been on the run from police for a year over the robbery of Mark Cavendish was spotted near his home two weeks ago, his neighbours have claimed.
Police could face questions about how Jo Jobson, 26, has evaded arrest by shaving his red hair and lying low in east London until his picture was re-published during a trial of two men for the robbery of the Olympic cyclist.
The 34-time Tour de France stage winner was beaten in front of his wife Peta, 36, a former model, who said the raid in November 2021 at their home Ongar, Essex, was “everyone’s worst nightmare”.
Mr Cavendish faced a 12-inch rambo knife and four balaclava-clad intruders who made off with £700,000 of Swiss watches after threatening to “stab up” the cyclist while his child hid under a duvet cover.
Romario Henry, 31, who was under police surveillance weeks before the raid, was found guilty of two counts of robbery at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Oludewa Okorosobo, 28, was found not guilty of the same charges.
Ali Sesay, 28, had pleaded guilty to robbery after his DNA was found on Mrs Cavendish’s phone.
Police are still hunting Jobson and George Goddard, 27, who were named as suspects last year. Goddard may have left the country but residents near Jobson’s home said he was last seen in the area two weeks ago but panicked after his image was re-released.
Friends believe Jobson, nicknamed “Jobbo”, was the man with a “chunky” build seen on CCTV and that he dodged a police raid after a tip-off.
“He was staying somewhere in Canning Town two Saturdays ago. They moved him on to Liverpool and shaved all his hair off,” one woman said. “I don’t know if he’s gone to Liverpool definitely, but that’s what the boys were saying. She added: “I don’t know where in Canning Town he was hiding. It’s not gangs but it’s the main area for dealers, or some of them.”
Residents said Jobson disappeared a few years ago after upsetting criminals with “dodgy deals” but then came back and that he had also been spotted last summer.
Others believed he was still in the area and was getting help to evade police. “Jo – good luck with that one,” a neighbour said. “I’ve got a feeling he’s somewhere here. Someone said to me they saw him here. Someone’s got him in hiding, surely. Eventually he will get caught. Every dog has his day.”
Henry was under police surveillance just weeks before the robbery and was spotted in Croydon by Metropolitan Police officers on Nov 15 2021 getting into a Mercedes with a man with a limp similar to Okorosobo.
He was previously jailed for eight years in 2013 for perverting the course of justice over the drive-by shooting of an 18-year-old A-level student.
Mr Cavendish was robbed days after arriving home from intensive care after a crash at a track event in Ghent, Belgium, which left him with a collapsed lung and two broken ribs.
During the trial, the court heard how four masked men made off with two Richard Mille watches, worth a total of £700,000, a Louis Vuitton suitcase and a safe from his home during the raid at 2.30am which has been described by prosecutors as a “well-orchestrated and well-executed planned invasion”.
Mr Cavendish’s orange and blue watch, which he had worn while racing, was one of a handful ever made and his wife’s white strapped, diamondencrusted timepiece was one of a kind. It is thought the intruders were actually looking for a blue sapphire watch which had been loaned to Cavendish to wear at the GQ Awards.
Some observers have said the robbery was a wake-up call for celebrities flaunting their luxury lifestyles on Instagram or in magazines and giving criminals the opportunity to make tens of thousands with a “few hours’ work”.