Chinnor robber involved in cannabis trade while on bail gets jail

Omar Elouahabi, 21, was part of a masked gang that threatened a group of teenagers at a quarry near Chinnor in May 2020, holding wrenches and hammers to their throats and kneecaps to get them to hand over watches, bags and a pair of trainers.

He was arrested in a car the following day in Ruislip, together with co-defendants Harry Sullivan and Lewis Marsh.

READ MORE: No jail for Chinnor robbers who have turned their lives around

But while Sullivan and Marsh were handed community orders when they were sentenced earlier this month, Judge Ian Pringle KC told Elouahabi he was unable to do the same in his case.

Unlike the two co-defendants, who had kept their noses clean since their arrest in 2020 and had gone on to complete apprenticeships and obtain jobs, Elouahabi was arrested last year for importing cannabis into the UK.

Oxford Crown Court heard on Thursday (April 6) that the parcel containing 11kg of cannabis was intercepted by the authorities as it came into the country.

It was repackaged and delivered to the youngster’s London home last November, where he was later arrested by the police.

Inside the outhouse where he was living, police officers also found £1,400 in cash and other drugs paraphernalia.

Elouahabi, of South Ruislip, pleaded guilty to robbery, attempted robbery and fraudulent evasion of a prohibition by bringing a controlled drug into the country. The drugs offences were admitted on the basis that he was in a lesser role and holding the cannabis for others.

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Sentencing, Judge Pringle told Elouahabi that he had imposed unpaid work and curfews on his co-defendants in the robbery matter.

“The question is can I do the same with you? The answer is, I’m afraid, I can’t,” he said.

“The reason is unlike the others, who after that offending they in the last three years have effectively got themselves together, they have both got jobs, they’ve qualified in a profession and they’ve put themselves out as people who won’t come back [to court] again.”

By contrast, Elouahabi had been arrested since the robbery - and remanded into prison.

Rehearsing the facts of the cannabis importation case, Judge Pringle added: “That, I’m afraid, makes your case different and although I’ve kept the sentences to a minimum, I’m afraid the only possible sentence in your case is one of immediate custody.”

Elouahabi was given 18 months for the robbery matters and a further eight months for the drugs offence, making a total sentence of two years and two months’ imprisonment.

The drugs and cash were forfeited to the police.