An alleged robbery in which £1.38m worth of watches were stolen from a shop in London was “staged” and everyone involved “consented”, including a jewellery store manager who later killed himself, a court has heard.
Junior Kunu, 30, and Mannix Pedro, 37, deny charges of conspiring with others to commit a robbery in Richmond, south-west London, on 25 May 2024. A total of 70 watches were stolen from the 247 Kettles shop.
Oliver White, a 27-year-old office manager, died by suicide the next day “as a direct result” of the robbery, jurors were previously told.
At Woolwich crown court on Wednesday, Kunu said: “This was not a robbery, this was staged.”
He claimed he was offered £5,000 to put the watches in a bag. “I knew that I was going to take part in a staged robbery where everyone was consenting,” Kunu said. “I knew that the person in the shop was going to comply. I knew that I was going to put watches in the bag and I had to do nothing else.”
Kunu, of Mitcham, south-west London, is accused of entering the shop to carry out the robbery. He told the court he had been recruited to take part in a fake robbery, believing it to be an insurance scam, and had he known it was real he would not have done it.
Two other men said to have been involved – Michael Ashman and Kyle Bowrage – escaped and fled abroad shortly after the alleged robbery took place.
Kunu said that Bowrage had told him what was going to happen, and that it all went to plan.
“He told me that [the manager] Oliver White was going to comply; he complied,” he told jurors. “He told me that police was not going to get called, they didn’t get called. He told me that he [White] wasn’t going to press the panic button or anything and he didn’t.”
Jurors previously heard that White was put in a headlock and tied up while the watches were stolen. Kunu said in court that the actions, including using cable ties on White, were part of “the roleplay” to “make the whole thing look real”.
He said he was recruited to take part in the alleged robbery by an unnamed man who knew he wanted to make some money. The defendant refused to name the caller, citing concerns over his own safety and that of his family. “I feel like he knew that I was just … I’m naive. He knew that I was naive,” Kunu said.
Giving evidence last week, Connor Thornton, the store’s co-owner, denied believing it was an “inside job”.
White was found dead the day after the incident. His mother, Amy Keane, described him as a “really hardworking young man” who was “devastated by the robbery”.
Woolwich crown court previously heard that White had tried to transfer £14,000 of his own savings to his bosses after the robbery.
The prosecution alleges the defendants played different roles in the plot. Pedro, of Cobham, Surrey, did not attend the shop and is accused of planning the alleged robbery.
The trial continues.
Article by:Source: Aneesa Ahmed
