Three armed men robbed the brothers of Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold at gunpoint.
The thugs, armed with a sawn off shotgun and baseball bat, carried out the robbery at a cafe in Moss Side, Manchester. Wearing dark clothing and face coverings, Talleko Lemonious, Tariq Dervan and Romario Harmer, stormed the cafe and robbed five customers.
They hit Alexander-Arnold's brother Tyler with the baseball bat so hard, that the handle broke off. Tyler Alexander-Arnold and Dane Rashford, the brothers of Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold, were told to hand over their watches, and Mr Alexander-Arnold who was not wearing a watch, was forced to hand over his wallet and the keys for his Range Rover worth £70,000.
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The robbery happened at 10am on Saturday, January 12, 2019 as Mr Alexander-Arnold and Mr Rashford were eating breakfast with friends Daniel Payne, Jacob Dunne-Simon and Tre Gill. The friends were planning to drive to watch Liverpool take on Brighton at the Amex Stadium later that day.
Shortly after the group arrived, Lemonious, Dervan and Harmer ran into the café threatening customers with a sawn-off shotgun. They hit all five of the group with such force the baseball bat broke, before shouting at them to hand over their watches.
Mr Alexander-Arnold was not wearing a watch, so instead handed over his wallet and the keys to his £70,000 Range Rover and Mr Rashford was made to hand over a Rolex worth £22,000. The three men drove off in the stolen Range Rover and a white BMW.
They drove in convoy to an address in Fallowfield where Talleko Lemonious, Tariq Dervan and Romario Harmer were arrested an hour later. At the house, police found items stolen in the robbery, including the watches and wallets, along with ski masks with three men’s DNA on.
A sawn-off shotgun was found hidden in a nearby bush which had Harmer’s DNA on. A machete and baseball bat handle were found in the BMW, plus Dervan’s DNA was found on the BMW and on a pair of sunglasses in the door.
Mr Wyn Jones read statements from each of the victims who described being struck by weapons out of nowhere and fearing for their life. Mr Rashford was sat on a 'breakfast bar' with Mr Alexander-Arnold and Mr Payne when three men dressed in black ran into the shop, he told the court. "It didn't immediately register what was happening but I felt a hit to the top of my head," the statement said. He says he "curled up" under the bar before hearing shouts of "give us the watches".
Mr Alexander-Arnold described a similar experience and that there was "nothing out of the ordinary" when they first arrived with only one other customer in the café. Out of nowhere he heard a shout of "get your watch off" and he turned his head to see a bat being swung towards him which hit him to the left side of his head.
Lemonious, 28 from Wythenshawe, Dervan, 22 from Staffordshire, and Harmer, 21 from Old Trafford, gave no comment in their interviews with the police, and pleaded not guilty at court. However following a trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, they were found guilty of five counts of robbery, possession of a bladed article (machete) possession of a firearm at the time of committing an offence (sawn off shotgun) and possession of and offensive weapon (baseball bat).
Carl Miles for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Talleko Lemonious, Tariq Dervan and Romario Harmer carried out a terrifying armed robbery at a café in broad day light. In their greed, they showed utter disregard for the impact on their targeted victims and other customers and staff in the cafe, who genuinely feared for their lives, and were not afraid to use violence to get what they wanted.
"We worked closely with the police to build a strong case against them, including DNA and CCTV evidence, which we presented to the jury. After careful consideration of this evidence the jury found all three men guilty of all the offences they faced.
"I would like to thank the victims for their help in bringing these violent men to justice in order to protect the public from further harm at his hands. I hope that the conclusion of the trial helps them move forward with their lives."
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