Arsenal star Gabriel fought off a robber wielding a baseball bat who tried to steal his £45,000 Mercedes from his garage.
Gabriel and a friend were followed home from a night out by two robbers who demanded the footballer’s car keys, mobile phone and watch as he got out of his vehicle.
One of the attackers, Abderaham Muse, then lunged at the Brazilian with the bat, but Gabriel struck him in the face and wrestled with him, grabbing his hat, until the robber wriggled free and ran off.
Muse, 26, was jailed for five years last month after police linked him to the robbery in August through DNA from the hat that had fallen off during the scuffle.
Horrifying CCTV footage played in court shows the black Mercedes pull into the garage at Gabriel’s house in Barnet, north London, and the 23-year-old get out with his friend, Rodrigo Tavares.
Muse and his accomplice, both wearing masks and hoods, walk into the garage and Muse holds the baseball bat up to the footballer’s face.
footage of gabriel’s robbery pic.twitter.com/ZLdll28RUr
— 🐙 (@afcxjosh) November 30, 2021
Gabriel, who joined Arsenal for £27million from French side Lille last year, holds his hands in the air then removes his watch and hands it to his attacker, along with his car keys.
Muse then lunges with the baseball bat, but Gabriel jabs him in the face and grabs his arm. The pair struggle for a moment before Muse wriggles free and he and his accomplice sprint away from the house, past a third member of the gang whose role was to ensure the electronic gates outside remained open.
Martin Lewis, prosecuting, told Harrow Crown Court: ‘No injuries were suffered but a great deal of shock was caused. They happened to pick on two victims who were very fit and able to look after themselves.’
Judge Anupama Thompson said there was no evidence Muse and his accomplices targeted Gabriel because he was a Premier League star. Rather they had followed him to his home because he appeared to be wealthy. ‘While you didn’t specifically target the victim on account of him being a well-known footballer, there was a realisation this person was wealthy and worthy of robbing,’ she said.
‘You saw a nice car and a nice house and thought it was rich pickings. Fortunately, thanks to the brave actions of the people you targeted, no further damage was done.’
Muse, from Tottenham, has a string of convictions dating back to 2009, when he was caught in possession of a prohibited weapon.
He was on licence when he attacked Gabriel after being given a 56-month sentence for possessing heroin with intent to supply.
udge Thompson told him: ‘You have an appalling record for a man of 26. This was an horrific and frightening attack on a group of people who were simply coming home from a night out.’
Judge Thompson jailed Muse for five years over one count of robbery and one of possession of an offensive weapon. Muse’s two accomplices have not been caught.
Gabriel has played 33 times for Arsenal since his transfer in September last year and was named in the Brazil squad for last summer’s Olympics, before being forced to withdraw due to a knee injury that also meant he was out of action during the time he was attacked.
Fellow Arsenal player Sead Kolasinac, 28, fought off two armed men who tried to rob him and then team-mate Mesut Ozil of their luxury watches outside his home in Hampstead in July 2019. Ashley Smith and his accomplice, Jordan Northover, were jailed later that year over the attempted robbery.
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