Mugger launched £1.1m crime spree after failed deportation

An illegal immigrant carried out two muggings for luxury watches worth more than £1.1 million after efforts to deport him were thwarted by a paperwork blunder, a court heard.

Ahsan Medjahed, 23, was locked up in April last year after being caught with a bogus identity document, and was then transferred to an immigration detention centre.

But Southwark crown court heard he was then set free again despite being illegally in the country, as the paperwork for deportation was not in place.

Medjahed — also known as Karim Ali — went on to rob businessman Zain Butt of a £150,000 Richard Mille watch as the victim was leaving Harrods on October 5 last year. He then snatched a Louis Vuitton handbag containing £3,500 of goods from a Starbucks customer in November, and attempted to steal a £1 million watch in a street mugging in Mayfair in January this year.

Medjahed is now back in custody and faces a prison sentence followed by deportation back to Algeria.

He admitted charges of robbery, attempted robbery, and theft, and was remanded in custody until a sentencing hearing next month.

When Judge Joanna Korner QC asked why Medjahed had still been in the country to commit the offences, she was told that he had been sent for deportation but “there wasn’t documentation or measures in place for him to be removed”.

“In the interim, he was released from immigration custody,” said defence barrister Ibrahim Hussain. “That’s when these offences took place.”

The judge replied: “That’s even worse, isn’t it?”

Medjahed was one of three men who mugged Mr Butt as he emerged from Harrods, grabbing hold of the victim’s arm and snatching his watch before fleeing.

Fellow Algerian Karim Boukerb, 24, was the “lookout” who picked Mr Butt as the target. He was sentenced last month to three years and four months in prison by Judge Korner.

“I have no doubt that you and your accomplices picked on Harrods because it is well known that rich people with expensive watches go there,” she told Boukerb, noting that he was likely to be deported after serving his sentence.

Medjahed stole the Louis Vuitton handbag, belonging to Dion Bahtiar, from a Starbucks in St Katharine Docks, east London, as the victim sat chatting to a friend on November 26 last year. He got away with “high-value items” including cash, jewellery, headphones, and a passport, the court heard.

On January 4, Medjahed attempted to rob Sam Thydon of his Richard Mille watch — valued at £1 million — in Duke Street, Mayfair. The robbery was thwarted and Medjahed got away, but he was later arrested for the theft of Ms Bahtiar’s handbag and linked to the two muggings.

“He is here illegally in the country, he expects and hopes to be deported to Algeria thereafter”, said Mr Hussain.

Judge Korner remanded Medjahed, of Camberwell, in custody until sentencing on April 8.