A third member of an armed gang who stole high-value watches from the home of the Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish in a “well-orchestrated” robbery is facing jail.
Two Richard Mille watches, worth £700,000, were taken from the Essex home Cavendish shares with his wife, Peta, during the raid at knifepoint in the early hours of November 27, 2021.
Chelmsford crown court was told that the masked intruders “threatened the couple and meted out violence to Cavendish in order to make him meet their demands”. Two men were convicted and jailed for their role in the robbery in February.
Jo Jobson, 27, was wanted in connection with the crime and police issued an appeal for information to find him. In June he handed himself in at Chelmsford police station.
He denied two counts of robbery but was found guilty following a trial at the same court.
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Jobson, of no fixed address, appeared to shake his head as jurors returned unanimous guilty verdicts after two days of deliberations. Judge Timothy Walker told him: “The evidence against you was overwhelming.”
Jobson was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the court on Wednesday. He said “thank you” as he was led away from the dock.
During his trial, the court was told that the couple’s four children were at home at the time of the robbery.
Edward Renvoize, for the prosecution, read a statement from Peta Cavendish, in which she said an intruder told her husband: “Do you want me to stab you up in front of your kid?” before demanding to be shown the safe.
The court was told how the robbery was a “well-orchestrated and executed, planned invasion of a home of well-known individuals with the intention of grabbing high-value timepieces”.
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Renvoize said one of the intruders took Peta’s mobile phone and it was later found outside their property, which, he said, was a “significant error”. DNA attributed to Ali Sesay, who was convicted of two counts of robbery, was found on the phone, the jury was told.
Police then traced a phone belonging to Sesay. Renvoize said: “It was from the communications data from that telephone belonging to Mr Sesay that police were able to identify a number of other telephone numbers that appear to have been involved in the offence.”
The court was told that one phone number was linked to Jobson. He claimed that phone was not his but jurors rejected his account.
Romario Henry, 31, from Lewisham, southeast London, denied two counts of robbery but was found guilty after an earlier trial and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Sesay, 28, from Rainham, Kent, admitted two counts of robbery and was jailed for 12 years.
