Thief snatches £10k Rolex watch from OAP in Facebook sale gone wrong

A brazen thief is doing time after stealing a £10,000 Rolex watch from an OAP who had agreed to sell it to him online.

Jack Frankland, 21, was caught on CCTV making a dash with the luxury timepiece from a Costa Coffee where he'd arranged to meet his victim to handover the cash. Footage shows Frankland holding the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea watch - valued at £10,750 - while talking to his elderly victim.

But instead of handing over the £10,000 they'd agreed on for the sale, he leaps up from his seat and scarpers from the coffee shop in Northwich, Cheshire. His helpless victim, who is in his early 70s, is seen trying to chase after him, but Frankland is long gone.

The victim decided to sell his watch on Facebook Marketplace when he was contacted by Frankland, who claimed he wanted to buy it as a present for his dad. Bradford Crown Court heard the pair agreed to a price of £10,000 and arranged to meet in Northwich at 2pm on 26 March to make the sale.

The victim specifically stated they wanted to meet somewhere with CCTV cameras. Frankland arrived at the coffee shop shortly after 2pm and after a quick conversation about the watch, the victim placed the item on the table so he could examine it.

However, around a minute later and without warning, Frankland grabbed the watch and ran out of the store before fleeing the area on foot. A member of staff from the store later took a photo of Frankland after she spotted him hanging around a nearby car park.

Police discovered Frankland had travelled to Northwich from Bradford, West Yorks., in a grey Vauxhall Corsa which had false number plates. They also discovered he left the area after calling for a taxi using a mobile phone.

Officers traced the phone to Frankland and he was interviewed by officers in prison, where he was on remand for rape. His house was searched, but the watch was never recovered.

He pleaded guilty to rape after his victim was able to secretly record parts of a conversation between them in which Frankland apologised for “raping her”. He also admitted further offences of affray, possession of a knife, breach of a restraining order and theft of the Rolex watch.

He was jailed for 32 months for the rape offence and a further 16 months for the theft of the watch.

Following sentencing DC Claire Heatley, of Cheshire Police, said: “This case acts as a timely reminder to everyone about the risks of selling and buying items online. Whenever you’re planning to buy or sell items, it’s essential that you do your research, it’s important that you use official sales websites, and always pay via a recommended payment site, otherwise if something goes wrong you may not be able to recover your money.

“Thankfully, in this case the victim was able to recover some of his losses through his insurance, but this isn’t always the case.”