Armed mugger who tried to rob Arsenal stars Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac of luxury watches worth £200,000 has his jail term cut to six years
- Ashley Smith, who tried to rob two footballers, has had his jail sentence reduced
- The court heard it was not taken into account that the robbery was attempted
- Smith has been described as a ‘career criminal’ with 20 different convictions
The armed attacker who tried to rob watches worth £200,000 from two Arsenal football players has had his jail sentence cut from ten years to six.
Ashley Smith was sentenced to ten years in November for his involvement in trying to mug Sead Kolasinac and Mesut Ozil in Hampstead, north-west London last year.
But three Court of Appeal judges have ruled that his jail-time should be reduced to six years.
Ashley Smith (pictured) has had his sentence reduced from ten years to six by the Court of Appeal
Smith’s barrister, Susan Meek, argued that Smith’s sentence was excessive and that there had been no consideration for the fact that the robbery was an attempted one.
She said: ‘The facts were unpleasant and serious and almost all the features of a robbery were present, but there was one feature which was not present, which is that no goods in fact were stolen.
‘That may not have the greatest of weight, but no reflection was made for reduction in sentence of it being an incomplete offence.’
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said that the crown court judge did not take enough account of sentencing guidelines and the court ruled that his sentence be reduced.
Before the court’s decision Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb recounted Smith’s attempt to rob the footballers on a stolen moped.
Smith and accomplice Jordan Northover were looking for a victim on July 25 last year.
They ambushed Mr Kolasinac who was standing outside his home holding the package of watches while he was waiting for his teammate and his wife.
On July 25 last year Smith and his accomplice Northover mounted the pavement and ambushed the footballer with a weapon
The footballer jumped into his car which was pursued by the two on the moped causing damage to the car
Smith and Northover mounted the pavement and drove at Mr Kolasinac ‘at speed’ and brandished what was said to be knitting needle at the player demanding the watches.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Mr Kolasinac ‘was having none of it and fought back.’
The footballer jumped into the car which drove off being pursued by the two robbers causing damage to the car.
The driver had to take ‘evasive action’ including ‘driving across lanes and traffic’, the court was told, before they shook off the pair.
Smith and Northover, who were wearing helmets and dark clothing, later left the stolen moped in Borehamwood, in Hertfordshire, and changed their clothes.
Police were able to trace the pair and arrest them.
Smith, who was out on licence for a 42-month sentence for burglary in 2017 when he tried to carry out the street robbery, pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery at Harrow Crown Court last October.
Northover pleaded guilty to attempting to steal the high-value items from the footballers in November.
Smith was described by sentencing judge Ian Bourne QC as a prolific ‘career criminal’ who was well known to police.
Mr Bourne said that Smith and Northover were ‘armed and dangerous’ when they carried out the attack on the footballers, saying: ‘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 two of them had not counted on Mr Kolasinac fighting back and he behaved incredibly bravely.’
The weapons were described as a 10-12-inch-long screwdriver with a thin steel coloured spike and a smaller darker instrument that was probably about six inches long, Harrow Crown Court heard.
Mr Bourne said that Smith had ‘an appalling criminal record’ of 20 convictions from 38 offences dating back to when he was 14, including assault, theft, burglary, driving without a licence and breaching a community order.