On March 3, 2020, a man in his 30s was walking his weeks-old British bulldog puppy Spot when he noticed two men watching him from a white Mercedes.
The dog walker ran away when the men got out of the car, one of them wielding something shiny which looked like a knife, but the men caught up and threatened him before driving off with Spot.
Spot was later found wandering a street in Harlow, Essex, on his own and was returned to his owner relatively unharmed, albeit traumatised.
Francis Zeta, 38, of Muir Road in Hackney, was arrested two later after being identified as the owner of the Mercedes, but he told police a man who looked just like him had taken his car and committed this dognapping.
On Monday, April 7, Zeta finally pleaded guilty to the robbery – the second man has never been identified.
At a sentencing hearing on Friday a Croydon Crown Court judge decided not to send Zeta to prison due to his ill health.
‘Stop me and I’ll do you’
Explaining the facts, prosecutor James Onalaja said: “On the morning of March 3, 2020, [the dog owner] was on Lullingstone Crescent walking the puppy he and his family had purchased some days earlier for £1,500 when he saw a white Mercedes parked up with two black males inside who appeared to be watching him.”
Police would later discover that Zeta’s car was driven from Hackney to Orpington in the early hours of the morning then “lay in wait” at the location of the robbery from 3am until 8.30am.
The dog owner continued his walk with Spot until he saw the same car again parked up on Wesley Road.
“This time the passenger was out of the vehicle and in the boot to retrieve a shiny item. The complainant panicked, believing he was about to be attacked, so started running away with the puppy,” Mr Onalaja said.
But Zeta, driving the car, caught up him and snatched the puppy whilst saying “stop me and I’ll do you”.
Fearing he was going to be stabbed, the dog owner was forced to watch the men drive off with Spot.
‘I thought Spot was gone and it was all my fault’
After the robbery Spot’s owner rushed home and began driving around the area to try to find the white Mercedes.
He managed to find the vehicle and take down its registration number before he eventually lost track of it, the court heard.
Zeta was later arrested at his partner’s address wearing the same distinctive jacket he had on during the robbery.
Mr Onalaja said: “The dog was returned to the family the following day. The dog was traumatised apparently and had some scratches on the paw but otherwise was unharmed.”
In a victim impact statement the dog owner said he was too scared to leave the house for some time after the robbery.
He said: “Now five years after what happened I can leave the house, but I don’t walk Spot. My partner does sometimes take Spot for walks but she is also scared so Spot doesn’t get walked as often as he might have done, luckily we do have a garden he can use.
“It’s affected me so much mentally. I see groups of males and have a panicky feeling. I still get nightmares about what happened. About six months ago I woke up and thought Spot was gone and it was my fault.
“I don’t think Spot will ever be the same again. I think he was mentally affected as he doesn’t seem to like people with face coverings or black bin bags.”
He has also failed to attend court without explanation and continued to deny the charge until the first day of his trial on Monday.
Until then he had claimed that a lookalike had taken his car without his consent.
When Zeta did eventually plead guilty he did so on the basis that there was no knife and his threat had been of physical violence rather than a stabbing.
The victim said: “I did think this would never end and there would be no justice. I felt like the suspect was playing the system as every time he was due in court I was told he was in hospital.”
Defending Zeta, Jonathan Woodcock said: “He has to be punished for this, but he is someone who is very, very seriously ill.”
Judge Antony Dunne, sentencing, said: “You suffer from a very serious medical condition. I’ve the reports, they both say your illness has deteriorated over the last 10 years. The disease is progressive and I’m told that sadly the prognosis for you is poor.”
He added: “I’ve also read your letter to me and I recognise you are remorseful and are now facing up to what you did five years ago.”
Judge explained that normally this crime would lead to a sentence of imprisonment but he had decided to suspend the sentence because Zeta’s illness meant prison would have a significantly more serious impact on him than a healthy person.
He added that as Zeta now walks with a frame, he felt confident he would not be offending like this again.
