Brothers of Premier League stars Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marcus Rashford both told how they 'feared for their lives' during a terrifying armed robbery.
Tyler Alexander-Arnold and Dane Rashford told a court about their terrifying experience after being brutally knocked to the ground with a baseball bat and threatened with a shotgun and machete when three men burst into a cafe. They were hit with such force that the bat broke during the attack which lasted a matter of minutes before they sped off in a stolen car.
Three men, Tariq Dervan, Romario Harmer and Talleko Lemonious, now face lengthy sentences after being convicted of robbery following a trial. Jurors also found all three men guilty of possessing a double-barrelled shotgun, as well as having a machete and a baseball bat in a verdict delivered yesterday (Wednesday, January 11), as reported by the Manchester Evening News.
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The court heard how Tyler Alexander-Arnold had moved to Manchester just months before the attack, which took place on the morning of January 12, 2019, and found a cafe he particularly liked, Littlerock Caribbean Cafe on Princess Road. He drove his Range Rover with his friends Daniel Payne, Jacob Dunne-Simon and Tre Gil to pick up Dane Rashfoid before heading to the cafe for breakfast.
Tyler's statement said how he had visited the cafe a lot over the three or four months leading up to the attack. He parked in the same spot he usually did on Bowes Street before heading into the cafe at around 10am. The group headed into the cafe, with Tyler and Dane eating at the breakfast bar and the others sitting at a table.
But 15 to 20 minutes after arriving, three masked men ran in shouting and making demands for watches, armed with a baseball bat covered in black tape, a machete, and a sawn-off shotgun. "It didn't immediately register what was happening but I felt a hit to the top of my head," Dane said. He says he "curled up" under the bar while hearing shouts of "give us the watches".
Dane added he could not see what was going on as he lay protecting himself on the floor but then felt a 'prick' on his back before looking up and seeing a gun being "pointed towards my face". At this point he "feared the worst" and said he thought 'it was not worth losing his life over' so handed over his watch. The next thing he knew the men were gone. Dane's injuries required hospital treatment where he was given a 'number of' stitches'.
Tyler described a similar experience and told the court he heard a shout of "get your watch off" and turned his head to see a bat being swung towards him, which hit him to the left side of his head. He fell off his chair and onto the floor where he could see two more men, one with a machete and another with a gun, he said.
He added an "old" and "rusty" shotgun was waved at him and the men shouted at Tyler to take his watch off, but he was not wearing one. All his friends were on the ground at this point, Mr Wyn Jones said, and he started to feel pressured to hand something over despite not having a watch. The masked men were shouting at him to "hurry up" so Tyler instead threw his car keys towards them which were subsequently used to steal his car. He described the incident as a 'blur' when giving a statement to police later the same day.
"I have no idea how long it lasted," Tyler said, "I couldn't believe what happened, I could feel blood dripping from my head. I could see my friends were injured as well, the police turned up and then I realised my car had been stolen.
"I don't understand how they knew they were wearing watches, it seemed they were only interested in watches. They didn't steal any phones. I don't think they knew who we were." Tyler also needed stitches for his injuries.
Jacob said the group were left "shocked" and that he "feared for his life". Daniel said the other customer in the shop offered his shirt and first aid to tend to his bleeding friends after he had his wallet stolen and the shotgun pointed directly at him.
Dervan, Harmer, and Lemonious fled in the stolen Range Rover and a BMW down Princess Road in convoy, speeding at up to 70mph through Fallowfield, south Manchester, before turning into Boland Drive just after 10.22am. Around an hour later police arrived at a property on the street and the three were arrested.
During a search of the house, officers discovered the items stolen in the café robbery and the ski masks used in the attack. The machete was found in the BMW and the sawn-off shotgun in a bag in some bushes behind the house. Harmer's DNA was found on the shotgun and a mask seized in the house. Dervan's DNA was also found on another mask and Lemonious's on another.
Dervan, 22, of no fixed abode, Harmer, 21, of Pemberton Street, Old Trafford, and Lemonious, 27, of Shady Lane, Wythenshawe, were all found guilty of every charge and will be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on March 20.
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