In other news, an armed mugger has been jailed for 10 years after attempting to rob Arsenal duo Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac of luxury watches worth ￡200,000 (US$255,000).
Harrow Crown Court heard that Ashley Smith and his accomplice did not count on the bravery of Bosnian defender Kolasinac in fighting back during the attack in London in July.
Ozil then drove them from the ambush as the would-be robbers pursued them on a stolen moped and threw stones, the court heard.
Photo: Reuters
Smith, 30, was described by Judge Ian Bourne as a prolific “career criminal” who was well known to police.
A second man, Jordan Northover, has also pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery just feet from Kolasinac’s home, and is to be sentenced at a later date.
Smith and Northover were “armed and dangerous” with a knitting needle and a pointed screwdriver as weapons, the judge said.
“Between them they produced these weapons which they threatened Mr Kolasinac with, a long pointed blade which was thrust in the victim’s direction and made contact with him,” the judge said. “The two of them had not counted on Mr Kolasinac fighting back and he behaved incredibly bravely.”
The court heard that footage showed Kolasinac attempting to engage with the culprits, but he was able to get in the car, which was then driven away by Ozil.
Both players and Ozil’s wife were able to flee, despite being pursued by the defendants, who threw stones at the car.
Officers were able to trace the defendants and arrest them after a member of the public later saw the moped being parked in Boreham Wood and called the police.
The judge stated that Smith has “an appalling criminal record” of 20 convictions from 38 offences dating back to when he was 14 years old.
WATFORD VS NORWICH
Watford got off the mark on Friday with their first win of the English Premier League season to climb off the foot of the table at Norwich City’s expense with a 2-0 victory at Carrow Road.
The Hornets, finishing the game with 10 men, made a dream start as Gerard Deulofeu slotted the ball past Canaries goalkeeper Tim Krul inside the second minute.
Andre Gray doubled his side’s lead seven minutes into the second half with an acrobatic backheeled flick.
Watford looked to be easing toward all three points, but Christian Kabasele’s dismissal, after a second yellow card, left his side a man down for the last 25 minutes.
Norwich looked to make the most of the man advantage, putting the pressure on the visitors and forcing them back into their half — but they were unable to create clear chances.
The Canaries’ defending was questionable at times, and the defense struggled to contain Watford on the counterattack, as a winless run stretching back to September’s shock success over Manchester City continued.
With less than 1 minute, 30 seconds on the clock, Deulofeu weaved through the Norwich defenders inside the box before giving his side the lead with a curled effort.
Deulofeu had scored his first goal of the season during the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea the previous weekend and followed it up quickly at Carrow Road.
The visitors almost extended their lead moments later when Daryl Janmaat met a Jose Holebas corner — but the 30-year-old’s effort was narrowly over the bar.
Daniel Farke’s Canaries started to build after going a goal behind, enjoying more of the possession, and Ben Foster came sliding out of the box to deny Onel Hernandez the chance to tap into an empty net.
Both sides had opportunities in a very open game throughout the first half, with Gray coming close with a blocked effort and Teemu Pukki volleying straight at Foster just before the halftime whistle.
Watford started the second half in similar fashion to the first and were rewarded when Deulofeu’s cross went to Gray, who twisted to backheel the ball past Krul to double his side’s lead.
Facing an uphill task, Norwich came close through Jamal Lewis, whose curled effort forced Foster to deflect the ball behind the goal.
After picking up a booking in the first half, Kabasele was shown a red card by referee Andre Marriner in the 65th minute for a careless foul on Josip Drmic, just as Norwich looked to be gaining some momentum in the match.
Kenny McLean came close to pulling one back with a long-range powerful drive, which was tipped over by Foster, but the Canaries struggled to make the numerical advantage count.
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