Two men have been charged with the attempted robbery of Arsenal stars Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac after a high profile incident in North London back in July.
The Premier League footballers were targeted as they drove through the leafy suburb of Childs Hills in Ozil's Black Mercedes G-Class and were chased for a mile by knife-wielding attackers riding mopeds.
The Daily Mail has reported that Ashley Smith, 30, and Jordan Northover, 26 appeared in court today and have been charged with attempted robbery and threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place.
Smith of Cardinals Way, north London was also charged for possession of cannabis.
Widely-shared CCTV footage emerged on social media of Bosnia and Herzegovina international Kolasinac appearing to bravely fight off the assailants before Ozil sped off and overtook oncoming traffic to reach a Turkish restaurant on Golders Green Road.
The pair were understandably said to be shaken but thankfully unharmed after the incident. Kolasinac though received wide-spread praise for his bravery as he took on the attackers with his bare hands despite both men wielding weapons.
Both players were granted additional time off by Arsenal as they recovered from the shock of an attempted violent armed robbery, while there were additional safety concerns that the pair might be targeted in further incidents.
Threats were made to the pair following the initial incident, forcing the duo to remain under 24-hour watch. Extra security concerns arose as it was believed that the situation had escalated into a gangland feud.
Speaking on the ordeal recently Kolasinac said: "Well, of course I’m happy to be back. Of course mentally this was hard, missing also training for a couple of days.
“I made up for it. I’m back and happy to be back with the team and able to perform with them on the pitch with the team."
Source :
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