Manager put in headlock during £1.38m watch robbery took own life, court told

The manager of a jewellers took his own life after being put in a headlock and tied up while watches worth more than £1.38 million were stolen, a court has heard.

Junior Kunu, 30, and Mannix Pedro, 37, went on trial at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday charged with conspiring with others to commit the robbery.

More than 70 “high-value” watches were taken from the 247 Kettles shop in Richmond, south-west London, on May 25 last year, the jury was told.

Opening the case, prosecutor Edward Brown KC said office manager Oliver White, 27, took his own life the next day “as a direct result” of the robbery.

Mr Brown told the court the defendants played different roles in the plot, with Kunu having entered the premises to carry out the robbery, while Pedro, who did not attend the shop on May 25, was “closely involved in the planning and execution”, including the use of a stolen Audi as one of two getaway cars.

Jurors were shown CCTV in which a man who cannot be named for legal reasons puts Mr White in a headlock while he is seated on an office chair as another man, who is allegedly Kunu, puts watches into a blue backpack worn by the man holding Mr White.

The other man can then be seen restraining Mr White using white cable ties to bind his hands together.

The manager had “visible reddening around his neck and wrist” after the alleged attack, Mr Brown said.

Mr White was first contacted by the conspirators, who posed as prospective buyers, through Instagram and then later on WhatsApp about three months before the robbery, the court heard.

Two days before the incident, three men visited 247 Kettles to view watches under the guise of being interested in making a purchase after arranging the appointment on Instagram, the court heard.

Mr Brown said this visit was an “aborted robbery” or a “recce” for the operation on May 25.

On the day of the robbery, Mr White prepared watches on trays for the viewers, the court heard.

“There was nothing to make Mr White suspicious, the customers were completely relaxed,” the prosecutor said.

In a statement issued through Surrey Police after Mr White’s death, his family said he had been “traumatised and unable to speak” after the incident.

“As a family we are devastated by the loss of our beautiful, funny, loyal boy, who lit up every room he walked into,” they added.

Kunu, of Mitcham, south-west London, and Pedro, of Woking, Surrey, both deny the charges.

None of the watches has been recovered, the prosecutor said.

The trial, expected to last two weeks, continues.