A man has admitted being involved in a robbery outside John Lewis in Oxford’s Westgate Centre.
Oliver McGregor, 24, was due to stand trial at Oxford Crown Court this week accused of a single count of robbery. Together with another man, he was alleged to have stolen a man’s rucksack on December 11, 2021.
But before a jury could be sworn-in, the Maidenhead man’s lawyer, Alice Aubrey-Fletcher, asked for her client to be ‘re-arraigned’ and the charge put to him again.
From behind the glass of the dock in courtroom one, McGregor, of Boyn Road, Maidenhead, said he was pleading ‘guilty on a basis’.
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That basis of plea was not read-out in open court, but was summarised by Ms Aubrey-Fletcher as mirroring events that could be seen on CCTV.
Although McGregor accepted some involvement in the robbery, it was a co-defendant who threw the punch knocking the victim to the ground, the court heard.
Judge Ian Pringle KC adjourned sentence for the preparation of a probation report, recommending any alternatives to an immediate prison sentence. But he warned McGregor that ‘all options are open’.
The judge added: “It will be for the sentencing judge to decide what your role in this episode was.”
Sentencing will take place on July 21.
Matthew Knight appeared for the Crown Prosecution Service at Thursday’s hearing. He said McGregor’s basis of plea was ‘not entirely accepted’.
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