Luxury watch store manager who took his own life 'offered life savings' to bosses after £1.4m raid, court told
23 January 2025, 22:40
A distressed luxury watch store manager offered his life savings to his bosses after a £1.4 million raid at their shop, before killing himself, a court has heard.
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Junior Kunu, 30, and Mannix Pedro, 37, are charged with conspiring with others to commit the robbery after watches worth more than £1.38 million were stolen from the south-west London jewellery store last year.
More than 70 "high-value" watches were taken from the 247 Kettles shop in Richmond on May 25, their trial at Woolwich Crown Court was told.
Office manager Oliver White, 27, was put in a headlock and tied up during the robbery, the court heard.
Jurors were previously told that Mr White died by suicide the next day "as a direct result" of the incident.
On Thursday, the court heard that Mr White did not see "the risk or bad in anyone" and "showed real enthusiasm for his work at Kettles".
Shop owners Conor Thornton and Joe Riley were in the US at the time of the incident but immediately returned to meet Mr White on May 26, prosecutor Edward Brown KC said.
"They had been friends for a number of years and it was that friendship that led to Mr White taking up work there," Mr Brown added.
The watches were not insured because a burglary four years earlier had made insurance "in practical terms impossible - either actually not possible or the premium was so high as to be prohibitive".
He added: "It must have been a pretty intense meeting. Oliver White was plainly extremely upset by everything that had occurred, to such an extent that he even transferred the maximum he could - some £14,000 - from his savings account containing his life savings.
"Money he had saved up for a house for he and his girlfriend, and he sent the money over to the owners of Kettles."
Mr White and his girlfriend "had been together for seven years and had been planning a life together".
A transfer was made by email at around 4.30pm on May 26, Mr Brown said, adding that the funds could not be transferred by the bank for technical reasons but Mr White was not aware.
Another man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was in the meeting.
Mr White later told his girlfriend the man had accused him "of not putting up enough of a fight", the prosecution said.
This was "something apparently the others, his friends, did not disagree with, and this devastated him", Mr Brown added.
"As a person he had always been careful with his money, he was not in debt, never borrowed money, never gambled, paid his credit card bills on time, paid into a pension - there were no even curious transactions in his financial affairs - nothing.
"He showed real enthusiasm for his work at Kettles. He worked hard and always went the extra mile at work if he felt he needed to.
"As a person, he was described as not seeing the risk or bad in anyone."
Not long after transferring the £14,000 he went missing and stopped replying to texts or calls, the prosecutor said.
That evening his body was found by a friend who had been searching a wooded area Mr Brown used to visit as a child, jurors were told.
"His car was found nearby and he had taken his own life," Mr Brown said.
"Oliver was left feeling he had somehow let others down, or that he was being seen to have done so.
"But of course he had not - but it would seem he believed he had."
Mr White's witness statement, given to police after the alleged attack, was read to the court.
On May 25, two men entered the shop having arranged a meeting.
"Their body language was completely relaxed and there was nothing that made me suspect anything," Mr White said.
"Four watch trays were out on display. At this point in time I felt normal, a few moments later they stood up and started gabbing the watches.
"They started talking to each other and said 'grab the watches'. They did so in a hurried way."
He said one man grabbed him and "had pinned my hands across my chest".
"I was feeling shocked at this point... he was the only guy who got physical with me, he then bound my wrists together."
Mr White said he was put in a headlock and could not move as they took the watches, and his skin was left reddened.
On Wednesday, the prosecution told the court the defendants played different roles in the plot, with Kunu entering the premises to carry out the robbery.
Meanwhile 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, 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.
Kunu, of Mitcham, south-west London, and Pedro, of Woking, Surrey, deny the charges.
None of the watches has been recovered, the prosecutor said.
The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.
Those feeling distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
