£137,000 Richard Mille watch cut from designer's wrist in London Mayfair robbery

A Romanian fashion designer had a diamond-encrusted watch sliced from his wrist outside a Mayfair restaurant. Two men deny robbery; a third has pleaded guilty.

Diamond watch sliced from designer's wrist outside Mayfair restaurant

Google News CA — Crime (EN) reports that a Romanian fashion entrepreneur was robbed of a diamond-encrusted Richard Mille watch worth more than £137,000 (€160,000) after it was cut from his wrist outside a restaurant in London's Mayfair.

Ali Eldahouzze, 22, and Abdel El Habchi, 30, each face one count of robbery and deny the charge. A third defendant, Younes Djoudi, has already admitted his role in the incident.

Prosecutors told Southwark Crown Court that victim Catalin Botezatu sustained lacerations to his wrists, suggesting the watch's rubber strap was severed with a knife.

Botezatu had just left Latin American restaurant Amazonico on Berkeley Square, central London, shortly before midnight on 28 January, when he was approached by the group.

Barrister Arizuna Asante told jurors that Djoudi first walked past Botezatu while he smoked outside the restaurant, just after 22:15 GMT, before later returning alongside Eldahouzze and El Habchi. The three men "looked at the alleged victim before walking off," Asante said.

The barrister argued this showed the defendants "were scoping out not only the restaurant but also the victim, and must have noticed the watch or recognised it."

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)