Robbers who dragged a garage owner to the floor before tearing his Rolex from his wrist have been jailed from a total of 12 and a half years.

Simon Rhodes-Butler, 35, of Offord Road, Islington and Ilyas Ismail, 26, of Norbury Avenue, Thornton Heath were sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on September 29 for carrying out the attack on March 28 this year.

The court heard how the owner of the mechanics garage on Birchhanger Road, South Norwood, feared for his life after the pair walked in, wrestled him to the ground and robbed him of his watch.

The pair fled the scene but officers on patrol spotted the vehicle and gave chase.

Rhodes-Butler and Ismail abandoned their car and ran into the car park of a block of flats. Finding themselves trapped, the pair buried the victims watch in a flower bed, but a police dog was able to locate the expensive time-piece within minutes.

PC Rani Sahota of Croydon’s Robbery Squad said: ‘This brings to a conclusion a very successful investigation by Croydon CID.

Thanks to the quick response of the officers on the day, Rhodes-Butler and Ismail were located and arrested within fifteen minutes of attacking the victim.

I hope the sentences received by them will serve as a reminder to all those involved in robbery that we will do everything in our power to bring them to justice Ismail was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for robbery and Rhodes-Butler was sentenced to eight years.

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