Robber stole Mercedes at knifepoint then crashed it into three cars

Denis Viscu said he had been asked to ‘go along’ to the meeting by a friend. Sending him to prison for five-and-a-half years, Judge Tom Rochford told the 22-year-old he had played a ‘full and active role’ in the robbery.

The Banbury man now faces the prospect of being deported to his native Romania, from which he emigrated with his parents as a child. A previous attempt by the Home Office to deport Viscu, whose previous convictions include robbery, burglary and drug dealing, ended up in the Court of Appeal.

Oxford Crown Court heard the Mercedes’ owner had received a call from an acquaintance, Christian Collins, on September 22, 2020, inviting him to meet at Delapre Drive, Banbury.

Collins and Viscu got into the man’s Mercedes CL330 – Collins in the front passenger seat and Viscu in the back.

The victim noticed the atmosphere in the car change as the conversation turned to Collins’ ex-girlfriend. Collins asked the driver if he was ‘seeing’ the woman.

Prosecutor Avirup Chaudhuri said: “Mr Viscu, sitting in the back, also appeared to be fiddling around with his clothing and man bag as if he was trying to find something.

“When the victim turned back to where Mr Collins was he saw that Mr Collins was holding a black handled knife in his hand and pointing it at his chest.”

Viscu pulled out a brown-handled knife and both men shouted ‘give us the f***ing keys’ at the driver.

The victim struggled to get out of the car as Viscu was using one hand to hold his shirt and brandishing the knife with the other hand. Later, the man discovered that he had holes in the shirt, said to have been caused by the knife.

Viscu got behind the wheel of the Mercedes and drove off at speed down the wrong side of Middleton Road. He struck a taxi, sending it skidding across the road, and was seen by an off-duty police officer to hit another car.

CCTV played to the court showed him speeding into School View Road then smash into a Renault Megane. Viscu, whose DNA was found on one of the knives, and his passenger fled the scene.

In a victim personal statement summarised to the court, the Mercedes owner said his parents had decided to sell their home and move away from the area. He struggled to understand how Viscu could threaten someone he didn’t know at knifepoint.

Viscu, of De La Warr Drive, Banbury, wasn’t arrested until earlier this summer. The youngster had 17 convictions for 24 offences, including robbery, attempted robbery and wounding. He was out of prison on licence when he committed the robbery, having been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in 2018 for burglary and drug dealing.

Jailing him for five-and-a-half years, Judge Tom Rochford told the defendant: “In my judgement, although this matter may have been started by Mr Collins, the fact you were the one who drove the car off suggests you were fully involved and had a full and active role in this as is demonstrated by you taking a knife with you.”

Mitigating, Parveen Mansoor said her client regretted his actions and wanted to apologise to his victims. His friend, Collins, who was jailed for five years in March for his part in the robbery, had asked him to go along to the meeting.

Having moved to the UK from Romania as a young child, he was put into care at the age of 12 and had struggled with drug and alcohol use as a teenager. The Home Office had attempted to deport him, with the case fought to the Court of Appeal in 2019.

The defendant and his girlfriend were expecting their first child, Ms Mansoor said.

Viscu was banned from driving for two years and must pass an extended test before he is able to drive.

Christian Collins and, right, Denis Viscu Pictures: TVP

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