Three men have been jailed for violently robbing a restaurateur in front of horrified diners at his eatery in Maida Vale.

Yussef El-Atarchi, 22, of Herries Street, Queen’s Park, Elias Ebnchaid, 23, from Mornington Crescent, Mohammed El-Haysnaoui, 21, of no fixed address and a fourth unidentified man targeted Ariosto Algieri in Da Daniela on Shirland Road.

Southwark Crown Court the men stormed the restaurant after wrongly believing Mr Algieri had just struck lucky at a nearby bookmakers.

They were caught on CCTV punching and kicking Mr Algieri in front of horrified diners and made off with his £49 watch on January 8 this year.

Jurors heard that at least one of the attackers was armed with a knife.

Mr Algieri suffered a fractured temple and cheek bone and had to have metal plates inserted to his skull. He also suffered temporary reduced vision in one eye.

In a statement read to the court he said it had been months before he felt safe enough to return to work in his own business.

He said: “I’ve never felt so scared in my life, I immediately thought they were going to kill me, I don’t trust anyone now.

“Even the people who enter my restaurant, I don’t know who to trust and I am constantly suspicious of anyone who walks in.”

All three admitted conspiracy to commit robbery.

El-Atarchi was jailed for four years and nine months and Ebnchaid, who had been close to completing an architecture degree before the attack, was sentenced to five years and six months.

El-Haysnaoui, who was jailed for 42 months in February for three offences of robbery and possession of a blade, was jailed for five years and four months.

Judge Deborah Taylor said: “This is an attack of the most serious category.”