Jail for thug after violent Haggerston robbery

A man who strangled his victim as he shoved him against a wall and robbed him has been sent to jail.

Valentino Batista, 32, made two separate bus journeys to follow the 69-year old man - who had withdrawn £400 from two Dalston cash machines - to his home in Laburnham Court, Laburnum Street, Haggerston last October 27.

Batista pushed him against the wall and began to strangle him, whilst shouting, “Give me all your money”.

He fled the scene once he stole the cash from the victim’s pocket.

Hackney’s serious acquisitive crime unit who investigated the case were able to identify Batista via CCTV, and arrested him on December 17 2012.

Batista, of Sceptre Road, Tower Hamlets, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for robbery at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday September 6.

DS Aytac Necati praised the work of investigating officers. DC Mike Cosh and DC Joe Leeman, and said: “This is a fantastic sentence which should serve as a warning to others tempted to commit robbery.”