Overview

• Ahmed Djidi, 26, acted as a lookout in a three-person group that targeted Tim Hortons executive Axel Schwan on New Bond Street in June last year for his £65,000 watch.
• Southwark Crown Court said the watch was ripped from Schwan’s wrist with some degree of force and that the impact on him and his wife was considerable.
• Judge Christopher Hehir sentenced Djidi for robbery and imposed a seven-year Criminal Behaviour Order barring him from Westminster and contact with his two accomplices.
• The court noted Djidi’s prior offending, including a 2022 distraction theft and a 2024 cannabis conviction, and said he was in the UK illegally, raising potential immigration detention or removal.
• The Met released CCTV of the incident and said targeted patrols are reducing street robberies, citing a 12.8% year-on-year fall in personal robbery.