Man drove 100 miles to swipe pensioner's £20K Rolex after spotting advert on Facebook

Published: 08:07 EST, 11 November 2026 | Updated: 08:14 EST, 11 November 2026 A father-of-three drove more than one hundred miles to steal a pensioner's £20,000 Rolex after it was advertised for sale online. David Williams, an 86-year-old from Greater Manchester, was cruelly conned and attacked by a 27-year-old Uber Eats driver who pretended he wanted to buy the watch. In late 2025, Mr Williams listed his Rolex Daytona Cosmograph Oyster Perpetual watch for £18,000. The widower, who lost his wife in 2021, had purchased the watch back in 2023 for £20,850 and intended to use the sale funds to buy a car. The former plasterer received a message from a potential buyer on Facebook Marketplace who went by the name of Jack Hillma and claimed to live in Warrington, Cheshire. But Jack was actually Romanian national Tichine Asan who lived in Hull. Whilst messaging about the sale, Asan learnt that Mr Williams was an elderly widower. The pair arranged to meet on December 15 in Sale town centre near Lloyds bank which Mr Williams believed was 'a safe place'. The pensioner confirmed to the buyer that he would be wearing a black overcoat and holding an Age UK bag. David Williams was cruelly conned and attacked by an Uber Eats driver who pretended he wanted to buy his £20,000 Rolex Romanian national Tichine Asan told Mr Williams he was Jack Hillma and cruelly stole the pensioner's watch outside his homeAfter he arrived, Asan claimed he had gone to the wrong location and told the pensioner that he could no longer meet up. Disheartened, Mr Williams returned to his car and drove back to his home in Trafford unaware that Asan was following him all the way to his driveway. The conman approached him and asked questions about parking before he snatched the Age UK bag and slashed the pensioner's tires, racing away in his car. Mr Williams said: 'I just stood there and I said "What the f**k?"' 'I stood there dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe what had happened.“As I ran back to where the drive is, he was reversing down and I just caught part of his number plate. I dialled 999. I just couldn’t believe what had happened.'For a few seconds I stood there thinking "Have I dreamt this?" It happened that quickly.'Detectives tracked Asan down using the IP address used to set up the fake Facebook account and used mobile phone data to prove he had made the one hundred mile journey from Hull, Yorkshire to Sale, Greater Manchester. He was arrested at Luton airport in May 2026 after he landed back in England on a flight from Bucharest, Romania and police discovered the Facebook messages between Jack's profile and Mr Williams. Asan was sentenced to two years imprisonment last month and a restraining order has been put in place which prohibits him from contacting Mr Williams for the next ten years. The judge rejected the criminal father-of-three's claim in court that he spent the watch sale funds on medical fees for his mother in Romania. The stolen luxury watch has still not been located and the pensioner has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket. Mr Williams has been left traumatised, and spent months regaining his confidence to go out in public following the theft. 'I’m weary of any car coming up behind me in the car park now. When I’m walking from my car to the entrance of my flat, I’m always alert.'I was always aware of being scammed. Everyone was saying "watch this" and "watch that". I thought "alright, nobody will scam me’.'Asked what he’d say to Asan face-to-face, Mr Williams said: 'I'd say "if you’re not prepared to do the time, don’t do the crime". 'I’m glad he’s in jail. That’s why I went to court, I wanted to see what he looked like.'Read more: Career criminal who stole £60,000 of luxury watches, jewellery and cash from lockers of wealthy City gym-goers is jailed