Moped mugger guilty of murder in frenzied stabbing of young father

Detective calls it 'the most sustained random stabbing attack I’ve seen in 26 years in the police'

A moped rider who stabbed a young father to death while trying to steal his wristwatch, has been found guilty of murder.

Jordan Bailey-Mascoll, 25, chased down his victim and stabbed him repeatedly in what a senior detective called the “most sustained” such assault she had seen in a quarter of a century of policing.

Some witnesses feared it was a terrorist attack due to its savagery, Detective Inspector Jo Sidaway said.

Danny Pearce had refused to give up his Rolex watch after being targeted by Bailey-Mascoll and an accomplice as they cruised Greenwich, south-east London on a moped last July. The pair were armed with a large knife and a gun.

Danny Pearce, 31, a father of one, was murdered for his Rolex wristwatch in London (Metropolitan Police)

CCTV captured them passing Mr Pearce on the moped and one of them, riding pillion, was seen to point him out.

The pair stopped Mr Pearce as he left a club in Nevada Street with his girlfriend shortly after midnight and demanded he hand over the watch.

When he refused, they chased him and shot at him at least four times.

He was also stabbed a number of times and finally cornered after seeking help at a stranger’s door, London's Metropolitan Police said.

Two of Mr Pearce's friends who had left the club at the same time also witnessed the assault.

Bailey-Mascoll and his accomplice only ended their “remorseless” attack when Mr Pearce’s girlfriend shouted and told them they could take the watch, officers said.

Mr Pearce, 31, the father of a five-year-old daughter, died where he lay.

His mother, Jan Pearce, said he had been “randomly murdered” and called for his killers to be “locked up for a very long time”.

In a statement the 63-year-old added: “He left behind a family who loved him unconditionally, including two sisters and a brother. But it is not only us as adults suffering. Danny’s nieces and nephews are grieving and it hurts them in different ways. How do you answer a child when they ask where Uncle Danny is?

“We need to get these murderers off the street. Who knows who will be next and then another family will go through the same devastation as us.”

Bailey-Mascoll, of Dartford, was found guilty of murder on Friday after a three-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court. He also admitted having committed a separate robbery on 13 July.

Jordan Bailey-Mascoll, 25, who was convicted of murdering Danny Pearce in Greenwich (Metropolitan Police)

Det Insp Sidaway said: ”The level of violence used against Danny was truly horrendous and the length of time over which they carried out the attack – up to two minutes – marks it out as the most sustained random stabbing attack I’ve seen in my 26 years in the police service.

“Danny had sought help at a nearby address, but he was cornered and shown no pity. Danny was repeatedly stabbed as he lay collapsed on the steps of a stranger’s house.

“The family who lived at the address opened the door to a dying young man, the trauma of that night cannot be imagined.

“Some witnesses who ran from the scene thought it was a terrorist attack, due to its ferocity. It is sickening that such prolonged, lethal violence against a defenceless man, with a family, was done only for a wristwatch.”

Police are still looking for the watch, she added, a silver Rolex Datejust 2 2017, worth some £5,000.

A 21-year-old man arrested in connection with Mr Pearce's murder was released but remains under investigation.

The conviction comes amid a spate of moped-enabled crime in the capital, with the scooters having been used as getaway vehicles or thefts having taken place while on the move.

Police statistics show an average of 60 moped-enabled robberies taking place each day.