Royal security scare after Harry's friend's phone stolen - The mugging of one of Prince Harry's closest friends triggered a security scare after his mobile telephones were stolen, it emerged today.
Winful Taylor, 27, of Stockwell, south London, denied robbing Thomas van Straubenzee, taking two mobile phones and a wallet, on November 30 last year.
Prince William with his friend Thomas Van Straubenzee, at the Basin Reserve ground in Wellington in 2005
But he was found guilty by a jury of six men and six women after two hours of deliberation at Kingston Crown Court, south west London.
The robbery sparked a security scare because Mr van Straubenzee's Nokia phone, which he had been using to talk to his old schoolfriend Harry at the time, contained telephone numbers of several members of the Royal Family.
The jury was not told about the full extent of Mr van Straubenzee's relationship with the royals as the judge deemed it irrelevant to the case.
But before the start of the trial, the court heard he had been talking to Prince Harry on his mobile when the mugging happened at about 7.15pm in Albert Bridge Road, on the west side of Battersea Park.
Taylor and another man, who has not been caught, took 29-year-old Mr van Straubenzee's wallet and two mobile phones.
At the start of the case, prosecutor Daniel Robinson said: "There is a degree of sensitivity about it because Mr van Straubenzee's phone contained contact details of members of the royal household.
"There was concern on behalf of the police to make sure that those details didn't enter into the public domain, and therefore investigations in relation to CCTV were quite widespread and there was a certain amount of telephone analysis conducted in relation to the case."
Mr van Straubenzee, who is also a close friend of the Duke of Cambridge, first met Harry at Ludgrove Prep School.
The royal brothers are patrons of a memorial fund dedicated to Mr van Straubenzee's brother Henry, who was killed in a car crash in 2002.
Judge Richard Southwell told jurors to ignore press reports about his relationship with the royals.
He said: "It is public knowledge but it does not form any part of the evidence you have to consider in this case."
Taylor did not give evidence and no defence witnesses were called on his behalf.
The jury was told Taylor previously pleaded guilty to two robberies carried out in 2006 and was convicted earlier this year of an attempted robbery carried out with another man in Hyde Park five weeks before the mugging of Mr van Straubenzee.
Two days after the robbery, police found Taylor with two mobile phones. One was a Samsung and one was Mr van Straubenzee's red Nokia.
Mr van Straubenzee's wallet and BlackBerry have not been recovered.
Taylor denied responsibility for the robbery, and said he bought the Nokia for £20 from a friend the previous day.
The court heard Taylor had previous convictions including robbery, assaulting a police officer and possession of cannabis.
He is serving an 18-month prison sentence for the attempted robbery in Hyde Park.
Caroline Gassman, mitigating, said that before the last offence her client had not committed a crime punishable by prison since 2007.
Sentencing him to serve two years in prison, Judge Southwell said: "People are entitled to make their way home from work in dark or daylight without being attacked and robbed." ( telegraph.co.uk )
Blog : Concentrate On One Man | Royal security scare after Harry's friend's phone stolen
Winful Taylor, 27, of Stockwell, south London, denied robbing Thomas van Straubenzee, taking two mobile phones and a wallet, on November 30 last year.
Prince William with his friend Thomas Van Straubenzee, at the Basin Reserve ground in Wellington in 2005
But he was found guilty by a jury of six men and six women after two hours of deliberation at Kingston Crown Court, south west London.
The robbery sparked a security scare because Mr van Straubenzee's Nokia phone, which he had been using to talk to his old schoolfriend Harry at the time, contained telephone numbers of several members of the Royal Family.
The jury was not told about the full extent of Mr van Straubenzee's relationship with the royals as the judge deemed it irrelevant to the case.
But before the start of the trial, the court heard he had been talking to Prince Harry on his mobile when the mugging happened at about 7.15pm in Albert Bridge Road, on the west side of Battersea Park.
Taylor and another man, who has not been caught, took 29-year-old Mr van Straubenzee's wallet and two mobile phones.
At the start of the case, prosecutor Daniel Robinson said: "There is a degree of sensitivity about it because Mr van Straubenzee's phone contained contact details of members of the royal household.
"There was concern on behalf of the police to make sure that those details didn't enter into the public domain, and therefore investigations in relation to CCTV were quite widespread and there was a certain amount of telephone analysis conducted in relation to the case."
Mr van Straubenzee, who is also a close friend of the Duke of Cambridge, first met Harry at Ludgrove Prep School.
The royal brothers are patrons of a memorial fund dedicated to Mr van Straubenzee's brother Henry, who was killed in a car crash in 2002.
Judge Richard Southwell told jurors to ignore press reports about his relationship with the royals.
He said: "It is public knowledge but it does not form any part of the evidence you have to consider in this case."
Taylor did not give evidence and no defence witnesses were called on his behalf.
The jury was told Taylor previously pleaded guilty to two robberies carried out in 2006 and was convicted earlier this year of an attempted robbery carried out with another man in Hyde Park five weeks before the mugging of Mr van Straubenzee.
Two days after the robbery, police found Taylor with two mobile phones. One was a Samsung and one was Mr van Straubenzee's red Nokia.
Mr van Straubenzee's wallet and BlackBerry have not been recovered.
Taylor denied responsibility for the robbery, and said he bought the Nokia for £20 from a friend the previous day.
The court heard Taylor had previous convictions including robbery, assaulting a police officer and possession of cannabis.
He is serving an 18-month prison sentence for the attempted robbery in Hyde Park.
Caroline Gassman, mitigating, said that before the last offence her client had not committed a crime punishable by prison since 2007.
Sentencing him to serve two years in prison, Judge Southwell said: "People are entitled to make their way home from work in dark or daylight without being attacked and robbed." ( telegraph.co.uk )
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