A man pretended to befriend a stranger before battering him unconscious and stealing his £145,000 watch.

Lindell Angell, of Amhurst Road, Hackney, left the 51-year-old with facial fractures after robbing him of his Patek Phillipe timepiece in a dark alley.

The man convinced the victim to have drinks with him after they met in the Strand in central London on January 21 this year.

The pair conversed for two hours while drinking and swapped numbers before leaving to head home.

Angell then convinced his newfound pal to head down a narrow side street towards Embankment station, where he choked and punched the victim until he passed out.

Ham & High: Lindell Angell was found guilty after the attackLindell Angell was found guilty after the attack (Image: SWNS)

He then stole the watch from his unconscious victim, who was left with fractures to his face.

Prosecutor Sue Obeney said: "Angell had purported to befriend the victim, spent a couple of hours in a pub, accepting his generosity, and finished by robbing and leaving him unconscious on the road.

“At every turn he denied responsibility for the robbery”.

CCTV footage was used to identify the thief, who was arrested at a hotel in Euston Road weeks later on February 6.

Further searches found a secure lock-up where a large amount of cash was seized.

Angell appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Monday (November 7) and was found guilty of robbery and possessing criminal property.

Detective Constable Gemma Oganian, who led the investigation, said: “This was a brutal robbery which not only resulted in serious physical harm, but many months after the offence, the victim continues to recover from the psychological trauma.

"People should be able to walk the streets of London and not fear this type of crime.

“We are doing everything in our power to ensure our streets our safe, and want to strongly reaffirm this to the public we serve.”

Angell will be sentenced at the same court on January 13.