Zacariah Boulares admits machete robberies in Kensington and Bayswater

Zacariah Boulares has admitted two machete-point robberies in west London, adding to a string of convictions that already includes an attack on *Bridgerton* actress Genevieve Chenneour. Boulares, now 19, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on 11 July to robbing Mark Turner in Kensington Square Gardens on 9 August 2023. He also admitted attempting to rob Neil Tallantire outside a Bayswater Waitrose ten days later, and possessing a machete during both incidents.

Previous convictions and sentencing

Boulares is currently serving a 22-month prison sentence for attempting to steal Chenneour’s iPhone 14 at a Joe & The Juice café on Kensington High Street in February 2025. The court heard CCTV footage captured him being wrestled to the ground after lunging for her phone. He later admitted two further thefts: snatching a blind woman’s handbag at a Five Guys in Thurloe Street, and stealing a rucksack from a diner at Pizza Pilgrims on Kingly Street.

In July 2025, Boulares was jailed at Isleworth Crown Court for those offences and others, including the theft of a £20,000 Rolex from a man in his 70s at Paddington station. Judge Martin Edmunds KC, the Recorder of Kensington and Chelsea, described a "systematic pattern of stealing from people as they are enjoying a meal or refreshment at a restaurant." He added that Boulares targeted wealthy areas for "rich pickings" and showed a willingness to use violence when challenged.

Next steps in the case

Southwark Crown Court adjourned sentencing until 11 August for a psychological assessment and a probation report on Boulares’s dangerousness. The reports will inform the final sentence for the two August 2023 robberies. Boulares, who lives in Feltham, has 12 convictions for 28 offences, including violence, threatening behaviour, weapon possession and theft, as reported by *The Standard*.

The court heard Boulares threatened TV presenter Aled Jones with decapitation in Chiswick High Road in 2023 after stealing his £17,000 Rolex. He was too young to be named at the time. The incident was part of a series of robberies targeting high-value items in affluent areas of west London.