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Crime

01st Dec 2021

Arsenal defender Gabriel fights off masked robbers in baseball bat attack

Danny Jones

Defending is a full-time job

In a story that has gone under the radar, a man has pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery of Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães at his home back in August.

The man, identified as Abderaham Muse, along with another robber, followed Magalhães home from a night out before accosting him and trying to take his keys, watch and mobile phone as he left his car.

However, as you can see in the CCTV footage, the masked men follow the Brazilian defender to his garage – wielding a baseball bat to threaten him – before he manages to strike Muse in the face, knocking off the hat concealing his face and ultimately prompting the two thieves to scurry off.

We can only applaud Magalhães for his bravery and willingness to fight back in such dangerous circumstances and be grateful that he wasn’t seriously hurt. The 23-year-old was out injured at the time after a knee injury he picked up playing for the Brazilian Olympic squad.

Prosecutor Martin Lewis told Harrow Crown Court that while no physical injuries were suffered, there was considerable shock caused by the incident. Muse appeared in court last month and has been jailed for five years.

This isn’t the first time an Arsenal defender has fought off an attempted robbery either; it was only a couple of years ago that Sead Kolašinac and Mesut Özil were met by two thieves attempting to steal their car, before the Bosnian left-back scared them off.

A lesson to all thieves: don’t mess with defenders, especially Gunners, it would seem.

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