A 16-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to a robbery in Chiswick after he threatened his victim with a machete.
Detective Chief Inspector Garth Hall, of the West Area Command Unit, said: “Tackling robbery is a priority for the Met and this case shows we will thoroughly investigate and move quickly to arrest those responsible.
“Robbery is a frightening ordeal for victims; people should not be afraid of being forcibly deprived of the things they own. In this case an aggravating feature was that the victim was threatened with injury and a weapon. Thankfully no one was actually injured, but this in no way mitigates the seriousness of such a crime.
“All the officers involved in this investigation worked quickly and efficiently to find the person responsible. Within days we had identified the suspect, arrested them and charged them with the crime. It was excellent work and the result is today, faced with overwhelming evidence, the person responsible has pleaded guilty to the crime.”
At about 17:40hrs on Friday, 7 July, a 52-year-old man was approached by a male who threatened him with a machete on Chiswick Road, W4.
The victim reported the suspect threatened to “cut his arm off” if he did not hand over his watch.
The victim handed over his Daytona Rolex watch and the suspect ran off; the watch has never been recovered.
In the course of the investigation officers secured CCTV of the area and worked through hours of images to find a usable picture of the suspect.
Officers found CCTV that showed the suspect had stalked the victim for several minutes before carrying out the robbery.
The image was circulated to local officers and two separate officers identified the suspect. As a result of the information, officers went to an address in Feltham and arrested a 16-year-old boy.
At the address they found clothing matching that used by the robber and a machete – these were seized as evidence.
The boy was charged on Friday, 14 July with one count of robbery. He was kept in custody to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court the next day.
He was bailed to appear at Wimbledon Youth Court for trial on Thursday, 24 August, where he pleaded guilty to the robbery.
He will be sentenced on Tuesday, 12 September at Ealing Youth Court.
