Aled Jones spotted walking with family days after he and his son were subjected to terrifying machete attack near their West London home which cost singer his £17,000 Rolex watch
- Jones, 52, was confronted by a robber while strolling in Chiswick, west London
Aled Jones has been spotted walking with his family in West London just days after he and his son were threatened by a man wielding a machete who robbed him of his £17,000 Rolex.
The 52-year-old Songs of Praise star was confronted by a robber on Chiswick Road, west London, at around 5:30pm on Friday.
A source told The Sun the attacker demanded Jones hand over his Rolex Daytona watch as he waved the weapon in the faces of the singer and his 18-year-old son Lucas.
On Tuesday, Jones was seen in a very rare appearance with his whole family in Notting Hill.
The singer was joined by his wife Claire Fosset, actress daughter Emilia and Lucas.
Aled Jones has been spotted walking with his family in West London just days after he and his son were threatened by a man wielding a machete who robbed him of his £17,000 Rolex. Pictured L-R: Wife Claire Fosset, actress daughter Emilia, son Lucas and Aled Jones
The singer was joined by his wife Claire Fosset in Notting Hill, where the family went shopping
Actress Emilia (pictured wearing a pink hat) is also on the road to stardom, playing the lead in 2021 Oscar-winning film CODA
Jones made his name with Walking In The Air from film The Snowman in 1985 age 14 and made 16 albums before his voice broke at 16.
His daughter Emilia, 21, is also on the road to stardom, playing the lead in 2021 Oscar-winning film CODA. The actress even spent nine months learning ASL for the role.
She also has played small parts in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and the television series Doctor Who and has already received a BAFTA nomination and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her starring role in CODA.
During the incident last week, the former choirboy reportedly did ‘not put up a fight’ and gave the watch to the thug to prevent him or his son from being harmed.
Jones then went to the police, who have since charged a 16-year-old on one count of robbery.
Jones is the latest victim of a spate of watch crimes in the capital over the last 18 months involving celebrities.
A source told the paper Jones was ‘totally shocked’ and ‘shaken’ after the ordeal which ‘all happened so fast’ when the attacker ‘came out of nowhere’.
How much is a Rolex Daytona?
The Rolex Daytona is one of the most desirable Rolex designs.
It was first introduced in 1963 to ‘meet the demands of professional racing drivers’.
Its ‘highly reliable’ chronograph and bezel with tachymetric scale allows it to perfectly measure average speeds of up to 400 kilometres per hour.
It was named after the Florida City of Daytona which was home to the first stock car race, held on Daytona Beach Road Course in 1958.
Today there are a number of variations of the watch ranging in prices from around £17,000 to just under £40,000.
It’s dial carries ‘Daytona’ in red letters.
Aled’s watch, the Rolex Daytona, is worth around £17,000
They added that the singer was ‘relieved’ that he and his son were not hurt and that they were able to ‘get home safely’.
The source said: ‘You can replace a watch and everyone realised it could have been a lot worse.’
Jones’s wife of 22 years, Claire and their daughter Emilia, 21, an actress who starred in the Academy Award-winning 2021 film CODA, were not with the pair at the time of the robbery.
The Metropolitan Police said: ‘A 16-year-old was charged with one count of robbery. The charge follows a robbery on Friday July 7 on Chiswick Road.
‘At about 17.40hrs a 52-year-old man reported he had been approached by a male who threatened him with a machete and demanded his watch.’
The 16-year-old is set to face a trial next month.
Jones has a love of watches and in 2016 spoke about his then-favourite, a Bremont.
He said: ‘It’s a Codebreaker watch that has part of the Enigma in it. It incorporates wood from hut six in Bletchley Park where Alan Turing helped shorten the Second World War.
‘So it’s a huge part of history and it beats a Rolex or Cartier any day.’
Other celebrities have been hit by recent watch thefts. In April last year, former professional boxer Amir Khan had his diamond-encrusted watch – worth around £72,000, stolen in east London in a separate, unrelated incident.
The 2004 Olympic silver medallist, 36, was targeted as he and his wife Faryal Makhdoom, 31, left the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, east London, on April 18 last year.
Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how gunman Dante Campbell, 20, forced Khan to hand over his bespoke rose gold, diamond-encrusted Franck Muller watch worth between £60,000 to £70,000 that was gifted to him following a boxing match.
Campbell, from Hornsey in north London, and getaway driver Ahmed Bana, 25, from Tottenham, admitted conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of an imitation firearm. They will be sentenced at a later date.
The Songs of Praise star, 52, was strolling around Chiswick in west London with his son Lucas, 18, when they were confronted at around 5:30pm on Friday (father and son pictured in Notting Hill earlier this year)
Aled Jones is seen wearing a luxury Bremont watch on two ITV programmes in 2016
Former boxer Amir Khan, pictured with his wife Faryal Makhdoom, was robbed of his diamond-encrusted watch in east London last year
Khan was robbed of this diamond-encrusted Franck Muller Vanguard Chronograph watch worth between £60,000 and £70,000
Mark Cavendish wearing the £2million watch, before it was stolen, in August 2021
The Bolton-born boxer had told the court the robber pointed a gun in his face and said: ‘Take off the watch.’
In a separate incident, F1 driver Lando Norris had his £140,000 Richard Mille watch, one of only 500, stolen after Wembley’s Euro 2020 final. It was ripped from his wrist by another man while he walking to his sports car on July 11, 2021.
Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish had his £2million Richard Mille blue sapphire watch taken when robbers raided his home in Essex in 2021, in a different case.
The Metropolitan Police has repeatedly warned Londoners not to flaunt expensive watches in public to avoid getting mugged.
Figures have shown in the last year alone 6,109 luxury watches were stolen in London, with 15,068 grabbed nationally.
The former choirboy reportedly did ‘not put up a fight’ and gave the watch to the robber to prevent him or his son (pictured in Notting Hill earlier this month) from being harmed
Earlier days: The pair pictured in 2015 at the premiere of Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie
Earlier this year, a gang responsible for a spate of terrifying robberies at knife point in south-west London were convicted after the Met’s Flying Squad found a phone filled with photos of the members posing with stolen Rolex watches.
The group had stolen a BMW with false number plates to carry out their crimes, threatened victims with large knives and machetes before stealing
Jones’s mugging happened in the same area targeted by a watch-grabbing gang who were targeting high-end watches when operating 18 months ago.
Days earlier, Jones had been seen out shopping with Lucas in Notting Hill. Jones was casual in trainers, jeans and a hoodie while his son wore a more formal jumper with trousers and loafers. The teenager now towers over his 5ft 10in father.
Jones, who is from Bangor in north Wales, made his name with the song Walking in the Air from The Snowman film in 1985 and made 16 albums before his voice broke at 16. He has sold six million records and sang in front of the Queen, Charles and Diana and the Pope.
He was made an MBE 10 years ago for services to music broadcasting and charitable services.
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