A man who took part in a series of “targeted” robberies during which expensive designer watches were taken from victims’ wrists has been jailed for six and a half years.
Hamid Zatout (25), who had been living in a hotel on Armagh Road, Dundalk, Louth at the time of his ultimate arrest, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four charges of robbery, one of assault causing harm and one of attempted robbery on dates in July and August 2019. He has no previous convictions in Ireland.
There is an ongoing investigation to determine if he has convictions from other jurisdictions under different names, but to date nothing has been found.
Detective Garda David Dolan told Brian Storan BL, prosecuting, that a similar modus operandi was used in robbing the watches and that Zatout was involved in each of the attacks. The watches taken ranged in price from €5,000 to €47,000.
He said that in each incidence two or three men would surround the victim before attempts were made to break the strap on the watch to allow them to take it from the victim’s wrist.
Over 57 pieces of CCTV footage were viewed and analysed by gardaí which showed that Zatout and his accomplices followed each of the victims for some time before mugging them.
Zatout left Ireland via Belfast in September 2019 and was arrested last September when gardaí learned he had returned to Ireland under a different name and was living in Dundalk.
Det Gda Dolan agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, defending, that Zatout came to Ireland in April 2018 from his native Algeria. He has one relation living in Ireland.
Mr McGinn accepted the robberies were “targeted” and involved the taking of expensive items. He asked the court to accept his client’s guilty pleas.
He said Zatout had no formal education but has been taking classes while in custody and has been working in the garden area of the prison.
Judge Martin Nolan said certain individuals had been deliberately targeted and had watches forcibly taken from them.
Although he accepted that Zatout is sorry for what he has done, the judge jailed him for six and half years.
Det Gda Dolan told Mr Storan that the first robbery was of an American tourist in the Temple Bar area of Dublin city on July 22nd, 2019.
He said the man had been out that evening with his father and was visiting a number of pubs in the area when someone grabbed his wrist and pulled the band down forcibly until it snapped.
The watch, which the victim later told gardaí he had bought in Beverly Hills in California, was valued at €20,000.
Five days later, a man had a Rolex watch, valued at €5,000, taken from his wrist in the same way.
This man felt he was being followed and was conscious of the fact that he was wearing the watch. He hailed a taxi and told the driver he “felt unsafe” and asked him to take the watch off him but the driver refused.
The victim was holding onto the side of the taxi when he was surrounded in a huddle by three males before they pulled the watch from his wrist by breaking the strap.
Another man had a phone and wallet taken from him after he was bumped into by one of the gang. He noticed that his wallet was gone and asked for the wallet back before he was hit on the back of the head and punched in the face.
The victim fell to the ground and tried to cover his head as the assault continued. He was later taken to James’s Hospital where he was treated for a bleeding nose and pain to his jaw. The group had tried to take the watch from his wrist while he was on the ground.
In another incident, an elderly American tourist almost had his €9,000 Rolex watch snatched from his wrist after he was surrounded by three men. He managed to break away from the group and get help in a nearby pub.
On August 18th, 2019, another victim felt a blow to the back of his head and was kicked before the watch, valued at €47,000 was pulled from his wrist.
