Woodford Green man handed community order after pleading guilty to five counts of robbery

A man from Woodford Green who pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery has been handed a community order.

Dejan Loncar, 18, of Navestock Crescent, Woodford Green, and a teenager from East London, both pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery and were sentenced at Basildon Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday, May 14).

Loncar has been issued with a community order to last for 18 months and must do 100 hours of unpaid work.

The 16-year-old boy from East London, who cannot be named for legal reasons, further pleaded guilty to possession of a blade in a public place.

He has received a community resolution order which will last for 12 months and has a three-month curfew to run concurrently.

The pair approached five teenagers on Roding Road, Loughton, at 6.40pm on September 4, 2018, and demanded their phones.

When one boy initially refused to hand over the phone, he was threatened with "a pounding" by the robbers.

A member of the public took the boys to safety after the robbery and the father of one of the teenagers traced his son's phone to Debden train station.

Officers attended the station just after 7pm and found Loncar and the teenager sat on a bench, where two mobile phones had been abandoned.

The duo were arrested and, upon searching the 16-year-old, a hunting knife was found in the waistband of his trousers, and a further five phones were recovered from a bag that he was in possession of.

The two phones abandoned on the bench and three of the phones recovered from the bag were determined to have been taken in the robbery on Roding Road.

Det Con Jody Greenfield, of Loughton CID, said: "This robbery had a significant impact on the victims, who were just young teenagers going about their daily business. Loncar and his accomplice have taken their freedom from them, and they now feel wary about going out and enjoying their home town.

"I hope that this outcome will deter them from committing crime in the future."