Moment father steps in to defend son from Rolex thieves armed with stun gun

Three victims were targeted on visit to London from America

A US tourist on a visit to London tried to fend off thieves who attacked his son with a stun gun to steal his £100,000 Rolex watch.

CCTV shows one of the victims, 31, being surrounded and pushed to the floor before being hit from behind with a stun gun in Chelsea.

His father stepped in to fend them off and was threatened with a knife, which cut through his coat but did not cause any injuries.

Their friend, also a visitor from the US, was threatened with a stun gun as well and forced to hand over her watch, worth around £200.

Thomas Leneghan, 23, of Fulham, and Ronnie Fitzgerald, 20, of Romford, have now pleaded guilty over the attack, which happened in the early hours of 16 November last year.

They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob, threatening a person with a bladed article in a public place, possession of a stun gun and threatening a person with a stun gun. They will be sentenced on 9 December.

Thomas Leneghan (Metropolitan Police)

A third man, 50-year-old John Stovell, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods and assisting an offender.

Just after midnight, the tourists were approached by men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas on Pavilion Road. After the attack, they got into a getaway car which sped off from the location.

Ronnie Fitzgerald, 20 (Metropolitan Police)

Fake number plates on the stolen Jaguar F-PACE getaway car, which was only identified by detectives because it had a parking permit in the window for the owner’s child’s school.

The car was found in a car park in Fulham and a forensic examination linked the men to the vehicle.

John Stovell (Metropolitan Police)

DC Robert Rodak, who worked on the investigation for Metropolitan Police, said: “This was a shocking and violent robbery which understandably left the victims shaken and feeling incredibly fortunate they did not suffer more serious injury.

“Everyone should be able to walk through our streets unaffected by this type of crime and that is why we are doing everything we can to take offenders like Lenaghan, Fitzgerald and Stovell off our streets.”