A man has been convicted of murder after repeatedly stabbing a young father to death in front of his partner for a Rolex watch in a “sustained” and “remorseless” attack in London.
Jordan Bailey-Mascoll, 25, was found guilty of the murder of Danny Pearce after a three-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court, where the jury heard the accused had behaved with such brutality that onlookers feared it was a terror attack.
Pearce, the father of a five-year-old girl, had been walking with his girlfriend and two friends to a parked car after leaving a jazz club in Greenwich on July 15 last year when he was targeted by two armed, balaclava-clad men riding on a moped.
Shortly after midnight, Bailey-Mascoll and the accomplice — who he has refused to name — confronted Pearce, demanding he hand over his Rolex watch, estimated to be worth around £5,000, the court heard.
When the 31-year-old refused to surrender the timepiece, he was chased by the pair, with Bailey-Mascoll drawing a large hunting knife while the second man fired several shots at Pearce.
A post-mortem found the victim died as a result of multiple stabbings, and that he had also been grazed by at least one of the gunshots.
His girlfriend, Stephanie Holland, wept as she told the court how after Pearce was shot and stabbed she had thrown the Rolex at his attackers but they had proceeded to kill him anyway, according the the Telegraph‘s account.
Investigating officer Detective Inspector Jo 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,” she said.
Bailey-Mascoll, who will be sentenced next month, started fighting with guards after the first guilty verdict for murder was read out, requiring three prison guards to take him from the dock down to the cells, according to the BBC.
He was also convicted for possessing a firearm, possessing an imitation firearm, and robbery.
The accused, who has an extensive criminal record dating back to his teenage years, was finally arrested on September 18 last year after having managed to escape officers in August when he threatened them with a large knife.
Statistics show that moped muggings have skyrocketed 50 per cent in just the past year under Mayor Sadiq Khan, with police in the capital now dealing with an average of 60 incidents a day.
The Metropolitan Police data was released amidst a spate of incidents involving what the force terms “moped-enabled crime”, with comedian Michael McIntyre robbed of his rolex by two hammer attackers who smashed into his car while he was collecting his children from school, and a female Australian news anchor and her cameramen mugged at gunpoint as they were broadcasting to Sydney last week.
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