This is the shocking moment a Mayfair pedestrian was rammed to the ground and attacked by moped muggers who snatched a £211,000 watch from his wrist.
Andrei Karkar was walking along Curzon Street with shopping bags in both hands when he was targeted by the teenage thieves, who had spent 45 minutes terrorising members of the public in Mayfair and Belgravia.
CCTV captured the moment one of the robbers mounted the pavement and drove into the back of Mr Karkar, sending him hurtling to the ground.
He was kicked and punched on the pavement as his Patek Philippe watch was then wrestled from his wrist.
Moments earlier, Michael McKeown had been chased and also knocked down by one of the moped riders in an unsuccessful bid to steal his £75,000 Audemars Piguet watch.
His wife Juste had a machete held to her neck when she tried to intervene to stop the attempted robbery, Southwark crown court heard.
Footage of the crime spree has now been released following the conviction of Ronnie Reid, one of the two moped muggers who struck fear into their victims on August 21 last year.
“This shows how brazen the two were, and the appalling violence they were prepared to deploy”, prosecutor Dickon Reid told the court, describing the attack on Mr Karkar.
In the footage used to convict Reid, jurors saw the thieves set out on mopeds from a garage in Finsbury Park, heading for the streets of Belgravia and Mayfair in search of potential wealthy victims.
Brothers Justin and Bradley Rizza were targeted just after 4pm as they walked through Cadogan Square carrying Fortnum and Mason shopping bags and both wearing Rolex watches. The thieves attempted to corner the men, but they fled in different directions with the mopeds in pursuit.
“Justin Rizza was confronted by Reid who screamed aggressively ‘what have you got?’ and tried to get him to hand over items”, said Mr Reid.
“Mr Rizza described trying to seek some form of protection by moving between parked cars, and said the moped rider was trying to run him over.”
The court heard Bradley Rizza tried to vault a fence to escape, but his shoe “became impaled on the spikes and he was suspended upside down”, said the prosecutor.
Twenty minutes later, the robbers rounded on Auday Tokatly close to Harrods, dragging him to the ground and aiming kicks and punches at his head and legs. CCTV showed that robbery being thwarted when a car drove past, giving Mr Tokatly the opportunity to flee.
In vivid footage captured by a car enthusiast, Abdullah Al Basman’s £3 million Bugatti Chiron was attacked with a claw hammer in Park Lane.
The side window was smashed before Mr Al Busman was able to drive away when the traffic cleared.
Mrs McKeown’s footage as she chased after the robbers was also included in the trial, after she and her husband had been targeted while they sat outside a restaurant enjoying dinner.
The prosecutor said Mr McKeown spotted that one of the robbers had a knife stuffed into his trousers, causing him to run away in fear.
“He was followed by the two moped drivers, shouting ‘just f***ing give it, f***ing give me the watch’.”
One of them “drove into the back of Mr McKeown, causing him to fall to the ground”.
The court heard Mr McKeown refused to hand over his luxury watch, and his wife was “following on, taking photographs with good reason, trying to intervene”, said the prosecutor.
“At that point, one of the robbers told her ‘f***ing leave him alone, but she kicked him”, said Mr Reid. “He pointed a machete in her face, six inches away, and told her to get off him.”
Following a trial, Reid, from Finsbury Park, north London, was convicted of damaging property, having an offensive weapon, four counts of attempted robbery, dangerous driving, threatening another with an offensive weapon, and robbery.
He was found not guilty of possession of the hammer used to attack the Bugatti, and of the attempted robbery of Mr McKeown.
A 15-year-old, who cannot be identified due to his age, has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, criminal damage, possessing an offensive weapon, robbery and five counts of attempted robbery.
Reid is set to be sentenced in May.
