Men guilty of robbing England footballers' brothers in Manchester cafe

Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Manchester United's Marcus Rashford both play for England

Three men have been found guilty of robbing the brothers of England footballers Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marcus Rashford at gunpoint in a cafe.

The stars' brothers were in Littlerock Café in Moss Side, Manchester, in January 2019 when the gang burst in brandishing a gun and baseball bat.

Talleko Lemonious, 28, Tariq Dervan, 22, and Romario Harmer, 21, were convicted of five counts of robbery.

The victims were forced to hand over watches and keys to a £70,000 car.

The men had entered the cafe at about 10:00 GMT on 12 January 2019 and threatened customers with a baseball bat, sawn-off shotgun and machete, a trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

Jurors were told that the men hit customers with a baseball bat so hard "the handle broke off".

'Feared for lives'

Five customers, including the footballers' brothers, were then forced to hand over their valuables.

The men were arrested in Fallowfield shortly after the robbery where officers found stolen watches and wallets.

A sawn-off shotgun was found hidden in a nearby bush which had Harmer's DNA on it, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

A machete and baseball bat handle were found in a BMW, Dervan's DNA was found on the BMW and on a pair of sunglasses in the car.

The victims were at the Littlerock cafe on Princess Road in Moss Side when the gang burst in

Lemonious, from Wythenshawe, Dervan, of Staffordshire, and Harmer from Old Trafford, had all pleaded not guilty.

Carl Miles, senior prosecutor, said: "Talleko Lemonious, Tariq Dervan and Romario Harmer carried out a terrifying armed robbery at a café in broad daylight.

"In their greed, they showed utter disregard for the impact on their targeted victims and other customers and staff in the cafe, who genuinely feared for their lives, and were not afraid to use violence to get what they wanted."

Mr Miles added: "I would like to thank the victims for their help in bringing these violent men to justice in order to protect the public from further harm at his hands."

The men are due to be sentenced on 20 March.