
A court heard that a youngster who robbed singer Aled Jones threatened to assault him with a machete.
The strolling In The Air singer, 45, was robbed while strolling with his son Lucas in Chiswick, West London, in July.
Jones’ £17,000 Rolex watch was stolen by a 16-year-old thug who threatened to cut off his arm with a machete if he did not hand it over.
The adolescent appeared before Wimbledon Youth Court on Thursday, when his counsel pled guilty on his behalf due to his two-hour tardiness.
According to the Mail Online, the boy was bailed and will appear in another minor court in September for sentence.
The court heard that he has been under the custody of the local administration since the incident.
Songs of Praise host Jones received repeated threats as he was approached in broad daylight, and the youngster was recorded on CCTV fleeing the scene, including placing the machete back in his pants.
When police arrived at the offender’s home, they discovered the weapon in his bedroom, and he was apparently dressed in the identical attire as seen on CCTV.
When the offender’s photograph was published, a police officer apparently recognised him, and while Jones couldn’t identify the adolescent from an ID parade, his son could.
Prosecutor Robert Simpson told Wimbledon teenager Court that Jones and his 18-year-old son Lucas were walking down Chiswick Road at 5.30 p.m. when the teenager approached them in broad daylight.
He pulled a machete from his tracksuit bottoms and demanded the watch, with Simpson saying he ‘threatened to cut off his arm and other threats to obtain the Rolex watch he was wearing.’
Due to his age, the youngster cannot be identified, but his counsel Gero Di Piazza filed a guilty plea on his behalf to accusations of robbery and possession of a bladed weapon.
Jones and his son were not present in court, where District Judge Andrew Sweet told the adolescent that he might face a youth detention order or that the matter could be sent to the crown court owing to the gravity of the conduct.
However, because the adolescent had first pled not guilty, and both father and son had appeared briefly on a screen when the court told them they would not need to give evidence, the singer was prepared to give testimony via video connection.
The hearing, which was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, was postponed because the adolescent did not appear in court for over two hours, with Judge Sweet accepting a guilty plea from the counsel in his absence.
It was reported in July that Aled had been ‘totally shocked’ by the attack as ‘it came out of nowhere and happened so fast.’
They continued to The Sun: ‘Although Aled was shaken afterwards, he was quite relieved. He was glad he and Lucas were not hurt and that they got home safely to the rest of their family.
‘You can replace a watch and everyone realised it could have been a lot worse.’
Jones, who rose to prominence at the age of 14 with his rendition of Walking In The Air from the soundtrack of The Snowman, is married to circus performer Claire Fossett.
Along with Lucas, the couple has a daughter, Emilia, 21, who is an actress who has acted in shows such as Doctor Who and Netflix’s Locke & Key.