These are the three men who attacked and robbed the brothers of Premier League footballers Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold at gunpoint.
Last week, Talleko Lemonious, Tariq Dervan and Romario Harmer were jailed following the armed robbery of Dane Rashford and Tyler Alexander-Arnold in Moss Side in January 2019. Mr Rashford - brother of Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford - and Mr Alexander-Arnold - brother of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold - were targeted by the men who were armed with a sawn-off shotgun, machete and a baseball bat.
The brothers were hit to the head before being robbed of a £70,000 Range Rover, wallets and designer watches whilst eating breakfast with friends at the Little Rock café.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
Following the robbery, Lemonious, 27, Dervan, 22, and Harmer, 21, fled the scene at speeds of 70mph in the Range Rover, as well as the BMW they’d arrived in. However, police were able to locate the stolen car, as it was fitted with a tracker, to a house in Fallowfield where the men were arrested and the stolen items recovered.
Lemonious, Dervan and Harmer denied involvement but were convicted of the robbery of the five men. Jurors at Minshull Street Crown Court also found all three men guilty of possessing a double barrelled sawn-off shotgun, possession of a machete and possession of a baseball bat.
On April 12 they were jailed; Lemonious, of Wythenshawe, for 20 years; Dervan, of no fixed abode, for seven-and-a-half years; and Harmer, of Old Trafford, for four years.
Stephen McNally, prosecuting said that the brothers had met with friends and gone to Little Rock, a Caribbean takeaway in Moss Side, to have breakfast before driving to Brighton to watch Liverpool play a Premier League game. They parked on nearby Bowes Street before arriving at the café at about 10am.
Ten to fifteen minutes after sitting down to eat, the three men, wearing dark clothing and balaclavas burst in armed with a sawn-off shotgun, machete and baseball bat.
“They used violence to steal watches, a set of keys and wallets of the five victims. These were high profile victims and had been deliberately targeted,” he said.
Mr Alexander-Arnold heard one of the men shout ‘get your watch off’ and turned to look to find a man wearing a mask around two to three feet away from him. He then swung the baseball bat, hitting his head and knocking him to the floor.
The bat was swung with such force that it broke and half of it was left in the café.
He said he saw the two other men, one armed with a machete and one had a gun. They continued to shout about handing over the watches, so Mr Alexander-Arnold pulled up his sleeves to show he was not wearing a watch, instead emptying his pockets of his wallet and keys to his £70,000 Range Rover.
Mr Rashford was also struck to the head and knocked to the ground by a man he described as wearing a ‘ski mask’. He said he remembered having a sawn-off shotgun pointed at his face before handing over his £22,000 Rolex Daytona.
Both men suffered wounds to their heads and needed stitches after the attack, Minshull Street Crown Court was told.
One of the friends was hit to the head and staggered backwards before being confronted with a man pointing a shotgun at him. He said he ‘believed he was going to be shot’ and immediately took off his Rolex watch worth between £3,000 and £4,000.
Another friend was also struck and had his Gucci wallet taken from him, and the fifth man had his £1,000 Hugo Boss watch stolen.
The robbers fled using the Range Rover and a BMW they had arrived in, but were caught an hour later by police who had accessed the tracker in the car. They were arrested at an address on Boland Drive, where police found the stolen watches, wallets and ski masks. They also recovered the sawn-off shotgun hidden in a nearby bush, which contained Harmer’s DNA.
The court heard of a separate unrelated incident involving Lemonious, who pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. Ms McNally said that in September 2021 officers were called following reports of gunshots in Withington.
They found a VW Golf with a bullet lodged in the driver’s door. Enquiries later revealed that Lemonious was involved in the shooting.
He was said to have 28 previous convictions for 52 offences including for robbery, violence and drugs. Dervan has seven convictions on his record for offences including assault, possession with intent to supply drugs and robbery. And Harmer had four offences on his criminal record.
Mitigating for Lemonious, Wayne Jackson said: “He accepts now his involvement in the robbery. He says it was very difficult growing up in Moss Side, to break away from the environment he grew up in.
“He says gangs were very much part of day-to-day life. His life was like a revolving door - he should have turned left but went right.”
Chudi Grant, for Dervan, said his client was a youth at the time and that he had experienced difficulties at home.
And for Harmer, Julian Goode said that his client was 17 at the time of the offences and that no further offences have been committed.
Passing sentence, the judge, Recorder Peter Horgan, said: “This was clearly a brazen and planned robbery in broad daylight.
“You were all armed, you were all disguised wearing dark clothing and masks, and the two victims were brothers of well known professional footballers. You clearly targeted them for their expensive watches.”
Lemonious, of Shady Lane, Wythenshawe, was jailed for 18 years with an extended licence period of two years.
Dervan, of no fixed abode, was jailed for five and a half years with an extended licence period of two years.
Harmer, of Pemberton Street, Old Trafford, was jailed for four years.
Read the latest headlines here
READ NEXT:
- "It's an accident waiting to happen": Angry residents put up SPIKES to stop problem parking
- The deadly weapons seized by police after underworld disputes spilled onto the streets
- Teacher 'banned indefinitely' after drunkenly headbutting 16-year-old - and told to pay him £1,295 in compensation
- Energy company wants to charge pizza restaurant owner £32,000 to exit 'extortionate' contract
- Wythenshawe brothers targeted wealthy couples for Rolex and Patek Philippe watches in upmarket Hale - they've now been jailed, along with three others
