Trio guilty of violent robbery of Alexander-Arnold and Rashford's brothers

11 January 2023 , 14:52

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Trio guilty of violent robbery of Alexander-Arnold and Rashford's brothers

Three men have been told they face lengthy jail sentences after being found guilty of committing a violent robbery against the brothers of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marcus Rashford in a Manchester cafe four years ago.

Tariq Dervan, Romario Harmer and Talleko Lemonious were today convicted of the robbery of five men, including Dane Rashford and Tyler Alexander-Arnold, at Little Rock cafe in Moss Side on January 12, 2019.

A jury at Minshull Street Crown Court found Dervan, 22, and Harmer, 21, unanimously guilty, and Lemonious guilty by a majority of 10-2.

The three men were also found guilty of possessing a double barrelled shotgun, a machete and a baseball bat.

The court heard that Mr Alexander-Arnold and Mr Rashford had met with three friends at the cafe for breakfast but not long after sitting down they were attacked by three masked men with a £70,000 Range Rover and jewellery stolen.

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Marcus Rashford's brother Dane was held at gunpoint in the 2019 robbery (Instagram)

Mr Alexander-Arnold was struck in the head with a baseball bat and Mr Rashford said that he “feared for his life” when one attacker pointed a shotgun at him, leading to him handing over the keys to his car.

Sentencing will take place on March 20.

Recorder Peter Horgan told the court: "You have been convicted of a number of serious offences for which you will be sentenced after a pre-sentence report has been prepared on you. I invite you to cooperate on those as this will assist me in determining the length of your sentence. I'm warning you not to expect anything other than a custodial sentence."

Trent Alexander-Arnold's brother Tyler was also caught up in the incident (Tyler Alexander-Arnold /Twitter)

Carl Miles, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said following the trial: "Talleko Lemonious, Tariq Dervan and Romario Harmer carried out a terrifying armed robbery at a café in broad daylight.

“In their greed, they showed utter disregard for the impact on their targeted victims and other customers and staff in the cafe, who genuinely feared for their lives, and were not afraid to use violence to get what they wanted.

"We worked closely with the police to build a strong case against them, including DNA and CCTV evidence, which we presented to the jury. After careful consideration of this evidence the jury found all three men guilty of all the offences they faced.”

Alan Smith