Mark Cavendish robbery trial hears phone was not defendant's

Mark Cavendish, 38. has won 34 Tour de France stages

A man accused of involvement in a robbery at the home of elite cyclist Mark Cavendish has denied a phone connected to the raid was his.

A trial heard that a balaclava-clad gang, armed with knives, threatened Mr Cavendish and his wife Peta in their home in Ongar, Essex, in 2021.

Jo Jobson, 27, denies robbery.

Defence barrister Piers Mostyn said: "The only link to this offence and the defendant is the phone, that he denies is his."

Prosecutor Edward Renvoize told Chelmsford Crown Court the intruders took two high-value Richard Mille watches worth £700,000, in the raid at about 02:30 GMT on 27 November, while the couple's children were at home.

The defendant, of no fixed address, faces two robbery charges - one of of having taken a watch, two phones and a safe from Mr Cavendish, and the other of stealing a watch, phone and a suitcase from Mrs Cavendish.

Mr Renvoize told the court that two people had already been convicted for their part in the robbery.

Prosecutor Edward Renvoize said a gang, armed with large knives, threatened Mark Cavendish and his wife Peta Cavendish

The prosecution said photographs of Mr Jobson were issued by police by January 2022, and that he handed himself into Chelmsford Police Station on 5 June 2023.

Mr Mostyn said: "A guilty person on the run wouldn't just go into a police station like that."The court heard that one of the intruders took Mrs Cavendish's mobile phone and it was later found outside their house.

DNA recovered from that phone was attributed to Ali Sesay, and police then traced a phone attributed to him.

Police used communications data from that telephone to identify other telephone numbers.

Prosecutors said one such mobile phone number had been attributed to Mr Jobson.

Mr Mostyn said: "There is no direct evidence that he had that phone."

Summing up, Judge Timothy Walker said it was "accepted whoever was in possession of the... phone was involved in the robbery".

"It's disputed whether he [Mr Jobson] was in possession of that phone on the night in question," he said.

The judge sent jurors out to start their deliberations shortly after 13:00 BST on Friday.

At 16:15 he sent them home for the weekend and they are due to return at 10:00 GMT on Monday to carry on considering their verdicts.

Mr Cavendish, originally from the Isle of Man, is the all-time joint record holder for Tour de France stage wins, and he hopes to pass the 34 also won by Belgian legend Eddy Merckx in next year's event.

His best Olympic placing was winning silver in the omnium in the velodrome at Rio 2016 and he was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner in 2011.