A suspected rioter accused of robbing a Malaysian student while pretending to help him will face a crown court trial.
Reece Donovan, 21, of Cross Road, Chadwell Heath, was charged with stealing a Nokia phone and a PSP games console from Ashraf Hasiq Rossli’s backpack while the student was still reeling with a broken jaw inflicted by another man.
In an earlier incident, the accountancy student had been punched in the face and had his bicycle stolen by a 100-strong mob in Queen’s Road, Barking.
Footage of hooded youths robbing the bleeding student on August 8 has become one of the most shocking images of the unrest, watched almost three million times on YouTube.
Mr Donovan did not enter a plea as he appeared before City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
District judge Howard Riddle remanded Donovan in custody to appear at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday.
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