A ‘TARZAN’-haired mugger was warned he faced a prison sentence measured in years.

Leon Dine, 19, of Yarnton Road, Kidlington, had denied being the ringleader of a gang of youths that robbed a man of his £750 Moncler puffa jacket in an alleyway in the village. 

Jurors at Oxford Crown Court spent more than six hours considering their verdicts before returning to court, finding him guilty by a majority verdict of robbery and possession of a knife.

READ MORE: Teen accused of robbing man at knifepoint

Judge Nigel Daly, who bailed the teenager to return to court for sentence on July 28 alongside two co-defendants, told Dine’s barrister: “He’s looking at a significant custodial sentence, which will be less because of his age, but nonetheless I anticipate will be measured in years.”

During the trial, jurors heard Dine and a co-defendant, who has since pleaded guilty to robbery, had been named by victim Jordan Wyatt as among those involved in the mugging on September 25, 2020. 

The victim said he was on the way back from buying groceries from Tesco for his girlfriend when he was jumped by a group of up to 10 men in an alleyway between Oxford Road and Green Road, Kidlington.

Mr Wyatt named Dine, who he likened to ‘Tarzan’ with lightly-tanned skin and untied long hair, as the instigator of the robbery. 

He claimed that Dine told him to remove his jacket and, when he refused, pushed him back then shouted ‘get him’ to the group. 

During the ordeal, the alleged victim claimed he was repeatedly punched and kicked by the group. His nose was broken. 

Dine was accused of telling Mr Wyatt at one stage: “Take your coat off or I’m going to shank you.”

Mr Wyatt added: “At that point he put his hand down his trousers and pulled out a knife.” The knife was brandished but not used to injure him. 

The defendant, whose DNA and that of a co-defendant was found on a surgical mask left in the alleyway, denied involvement in the robbery.

Although two knives were found in Dine's bedroom, neither was tested for the victim’s DNA.

Closing her client’s case, defence barrister Kellie Enever warned the jury against jumping to conclusions based on the victim identifying Dine as the ringleader. “People make mistakes. To say people do not make mistakes would be totally and utterly ridiculous.”

Prosecutor Edward Culver questioned the defendant’s claim it was ‘just a normal day’ – unless ‘going round mugging’ people was part of a normal day, he added.

He scoffed at the suggestion Dine was anywhere other than the alleyway. “Perhaps he was out with his Tarzan hair. Perhaps he was at the hairdresser,” he said. 

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward