Man who knocked baby out of pram while stealing £80K watch jailed 

A man who injured a baby while stealing its dad’s £80,000 watch has been jailed for four years.

Amine Benchoula, 35, of no fixed address, was sentenced for the robbery and assault on the baby at Southwark Crown Court yesterday.

At around 4.30pm on June 24, the victim was walking in St James’s Square, Westminster, with his brother, his wife and their baby on the way back to their car.

As the victim was about to put his baby into the car, Benchoula ran up behind him, took hold of his wrist and began pulling at his Patek Philippe watch.

At the same time, Benchoula knocked the baby out of the pram and onto the pavement before he ran away from the scene with the stolen watch, heading in the direction of Waterloo Place and Pall Mall, the Met reported.

Police have confirmed that the father and the baby did not suffer any serious injuries.

The incident was caught on CCTV and Benchoula was spotted by officers on July 9, in Edgware Road, where he was arrested.

On the day of his arrest he was wearing the same tracksuit trousers, trainers and baseball cap that he wore when he carried out the robbery.

The stolen watch has not been recovered.

Detective Chief Inspector Scott Ware said: “The Met is putting more officers into local policing and focusing on issues that matter to Londoners. 

“We are taking proactive steps to identify harmful offenders and work with partners to prevent these offences from taking place.

“Across London officers are out day in, day out, conducting targeted patrols in robbery hotspots to identify, apprehend and deter potential offenders.

“We also have dedicated teams out on intelligence-led operations to target repeat offenders.”

Pictured top: Amine Benchoula (Picture: The Met)