Two supercar bandits who kidnapped a rich Lamborghini driver at gunpoint in Cheltenham and handcuffed a Ferrari owner’s lover in front of his terrified little son have been jailed for 27 years.
In one case, a man was kidnapped at gunpoint by a robber who visited his house pretending to want to buy the victim’s £164,000 Lamborghini.
In another, a Ferrari owner’s frightened partner was threatened with an imitation gun while he was handcuffed and their young son managed to flee.
When they were sitting together on a sofa, Mohammed Ali pulled out the gun and pointed it directly at him, before a scuffle ensued and the victim’s partner was dragged off, the prosecutor said.
Nottingham Crown Court heard how Ali told a Lamborghini owner in Cheltenham he was ‘worth £20m’ but then pulled out a pistol on him, put him in handcuffs and ordered him to transfer £100,000 from his bank account.
Nottingham Crown Court heard how Mohammed Ali (pictured) told a Lamborghini owner in Cheltenham he was ‘worth £20m’ but then pulled out a pistol on him, put him in handcuffs and ordered him to transfer £100,000 from his bank account
The victim was unable to do it as he did not have the funds so Ali instead managed to take £7,000, saying ‘I thought you were a millionaire?’ and ‘is that all you’ve got?’ before putting him in his car, driving him 76 miles to Stafford and abandoning him there.
In a victim impact statement, he said he has now resigned from his job and his relationship with his partner has broken down since the robbery last year.
Just two months after that offence, Ali and teenage co-defendant Muhamed Juwara carried out the exact same crime against a couple in Nottinghamshire who were selling their £170,000 Ferrari.
Jonathan Dee, prosecuting, said the Nottinghamshire robbery took place in Kirkby-in-Ashfield in September 2022.
He said Ali agreed to meet the seller at his home to discuss buying the Ferrari. He and Juwara, who met working at an Amazon warehouse, travelled from their homes in West Yorkshire with a plan to steal it from them.
The prosecutor said: ‘When they were sitting together on a sofa, Ali pulled out the gun and pointed it directly at him and told Juwara “put the cuffs on him”.
‘Mr Juwara leapt on him and there was a scuffle. The victim’s partner was dragged off by Ali who was still holding the gun.
‘She had the chance to feel it and said “it’s plastic” and she fought back reaching for a vase. Their nine-year-old son, who had been upstairs, ran off and Juwara shouted “the boy has gone”.’
The prosecutor said evidence then proved that he had carried out the Gloucestershire robbery and kidnap two months earlier when that victim advertised his Lamborghini supercar on the same website.
Ali contacted him claiming to be worth £20m. He visited his house near Cheltenham and again pulled out an imitation gun, threatened to kill the victim and tied him up.
He then drove him to Stafford, some 76 miles away, and left him there.
Ali, 39, of Willow Brook Manor, Wakefield, pleaded guilty to robbery, attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Juwara, 18, of Bayswater Road, Leeds, pleaded guilty to robbery.
Mr Dee read out victim impact statements made by all three of the people who were robbed.
The Nottinghamshire man said: ‘It has changed me as a person, I have stopped trusting people who come to my house and I can not see a future where this incident is not in my mind.’
Pictured: Muhamed Juwara. The prosecutor said: ‘When they were sitting together on a sofa, Ali pulled out the gun and pointed it directly at him and told Juwara “put the cuffs on him”. Mr Juwara leapt on him and there was a scuffle. The victim’s partner was dragged off by Ali who was still holding the gun’
In her statement, his partner said: ‘I feel increased anxiety and I’m jumpy around others. I genuinely thought I was going to die.’
The Gloucestershire man said the incident ‘has had a profound effect’ on his life.
He said: ‘I was unable to feel safe in our own house and had to live in a hotel at first. I am now withdrawn and struggling with trust issues. I resigned from my job and my relationship broke down.’
Paul Addison, for Ali, said his client is married with a young child and he carried out the robberies after falling into debt, having borrowed money from ‘unregulated’ sources.
He said: ‘It was a bad decision he made at a time when he knows he lost his moral compass.’
Esther Harrison, for Juwara, said her client had come to the UK via Africa and Europe. She added that he was living with his older brothers in Leeds and that his father lives in Spain.
She said: ‘He was a hard-working young man who had a future but accepts he’s put it at risk for a very long time.’
Ali received an 18-year prison sentence and Juwara was sent to a young offender’s institution for nine years.
Judge William Harbage KC said: ‘Whether it was the one offence or both offences you put the householders concerned through a terrifying and prolonged ordeal. In the Nottingham case you did not just put the one victim through an ordeal but his partner and child as well.
‘In both cases it must have been the householder’s worst nightmare to be attacked in their own home at gunpoint. The terror they felt can only be imagined.’
In a statement released when the pair were charged, Detective Inspector Paul Lefford, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: ‘I’d like to commend the investigation team whose outstanding work and resilience achieved this result for the victims. It involved persistence and team work to give the best quality of service to the victim and to protect the public.
‘I hope the excellent work in this case shows how seriously the force takes reports of robbery and how committed it is to reducing violence in our communities and protecting the public. Nottinghamshire Police will always investigate reports and work relentlessly to put suspects before the courts and seek justice for victims.’