A man has been found guilty of ambushing a pizza delivery driver and stealing his pizzas.

Today a jury at Kingston Crown Court took about an hour and a half to decide Charles Sornalingham, 28, had robbed the Village Pizza driver.

He had been accused of being part of a three person group who surrounded Village Pizza manager Mohammed Fayzi in Toby Way and stole pizzas at about 1.30am on October 6, 2011.

But a second man on trial, Nijaanth Navaratnarajah, 23, was found not guilty following the jury retiring to consider its verdict at 12.36pm, returning shortly after 2pm following the court's lunch break.

The trial had heard evidence from Mr Fayzi that he was pulled from his car and his keys stolen.

He said he chased one of the three men before calling 999.

Mr Sornalingham, of Malden Way, New Malden, is due to be sentenced on June 21.

Mohammed Fayzi, manager of Village Pizza who gave evidence during the trial from behind a screen, said three men surrounded his car in Toby Way and began to demand the pizzas at about 1.30am on October 6, 2011.

He said: “One opened my door, pulled me out and took the key from the ignition.

“The topless guy had a baseball bat in his hands. He did not use it.

“He pulled me out. They were talking to each other in a Sri Lankan language.

“The guy who was topless said these were their pizzas. I told him I was not going to give him the pizzas if he did not show me his card.”

Earlier the court heard the takeaway had its suspicions raised when two cards were declined over the phone before a £40 payment for the four 12-inch pizzas went through on the third try.

Mr Fayzi said: “I realised this was not their card so I put the window up and locked my doors.

"They started shouting at me. They were asking for their pizzas.”

He told the courtroom how the men had told him not to ring the doorbell, but to call when he arrived as they did not want to wake up the family.

The men then convinced him to roll down the passenger window, reaching in to unlock the car and rob the pizza bag from the back seat before they turned on him, he said.

Mr Fayzi chased one of the robbers as the others fled in different directions calling 999 as he ran, the jury heard.