A luxury watch thief befriended a man over drinks in central London before putting him in a chokehold, leaving him unconscious and taking off with his £145,000 watch.
Lindell Angell, 32, of Hackney, was found guilty of robbery and possessing criminal property at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.
Angell pretended to start a friendship with the victim, who was wearing a Patek Philippe watch, on the Strand on January 21.
He engaged with the victim and convinced him to go to a nearby bar, where the pair had drinks for two hours and swapped phone numbers before leaving to head home.
Angell then convinced his 51-year-old victim to head down a dark street towards Embankment Tube station, before putting him in a chokehold and repeatedly punching him until he fell unconscious.
At this point he took off with the luxury watch.
The victim was unconscious for several minutes before another person found him and called the London Ambulance Service. He suffered facial fractures.
Angell, who was actively evading police, was found on February 6 in a hotel room on Euston Road and was arrested.
A secure lock-up, hired out six days after the violent robbery, was discovered by police with a large of amount of cash inside.
Detective Constable Gemma Oganian, who led the investigation, said the victim continues to recover from the psychological trauma after the “brutual robbery”.
“People should be able to walk the streets of London and not fear this type of crime.”
Prosecution Counsel, Sue Obeney, said: “Angell had purported to befriend the victim, spent a couple of hours in a pub, accepting his generosity, and finished by robbing and leaving him unconscious on the road. At every turn he denied responsibility for the robbery”.
Angell will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on January 13 next year.
Metropolitan Police warn people to be aware of their surroundings and keep valuables such as mobile phones and watches out of sight.
Muggings, or thefts from a person, have risen by almost 70 percent in the last 12 months in the capital, with more than 57,000 incidents recorded between August 2021 and August 2022.
There have been almost twice as many muggings so far this year than the same period, between January and August, in 2020.
