One of the robbers accused of a luxury jewellery shop heist where £1.4 million worth of watches were stolen claims the robbery was ‘staged’ and that everyone involved consented, including the shop manager who killed himself 24 hours later.
Oliver White was found dead in his home in Surrey, less than a day after this footage of two men robbing him of several watches at his southwest London shop went viral:
Shocking surveillance footage captures the moment two men restrained high-value London watch dealer Oliver White and stole his timepieces. Tragically, less than 24 hours later, Oliver took his own life. The Met Police have appealed for anyone who recognizes the two men to come… pic.twitter.com/Paj9WVaBhA
Junior Kunu, 30, and Mannix Pedro, 37, are charged with conspiring with others to carry out the raid that saw more than 70 luxury watches stolen from the 247 Kettles shop in Richmond, London in May last year.
Giving evidence today, Kunu repeatedly insisted:
‘This was not a robbery, this was staged.’
He claimed he was told he would be paid £5,000 for putting watches into a bag, and that putting Oliver White in a headlock and binding him with cable ties was all part of ‘the role play’.
‘I knew that I was going to take part in a staged robbery where everyone was consenting. 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.’
Two other men involved in the robbery – Michael Ashman and Kyle Bowrage – are still at large, having fled abroad soon after the incident.
Kunu claimed Bowrage had instructed him and that it all went according to plan.
‘He told me that Oliver White was going to comply, he complied. He told me that police was not going to get called, they didn’t get called.
‘He told me that he (Mr White) wasn’t going to press the panic button or anything and he didn’t.
‘At one point Bowrage was on one side and Oliver White was by himself. If this was a real-life robbery he would have pressed the panic button, he would have screamed or kicked up a fuss.’
‘Everything Kyle Bowrage told me happened to the exact tee.’
Kunu told Woolwich Crown Court ‘it would have been different’ if Mr White had not consented.
‘He would have pressed the panic button. We walked out of that place, we didn’t run. There wasn’t a car outside.
‘We walked to where the car was… if this was a robbery the car would have been outside, we would have run out.
‘This was, to my belief, an insurance scam. But I didn’t know that.’
Asked why he was chosen, Kunu told jurors:
‘Because prior to that I have had conversations and I told him that I was financially struggling.
‘He knew that I needed money and I feel like he knew that I was just… I’m naive. He knew that I was naive.
‘He said I was going to partake in staged robbery and all I had to do was put watches in a bag. I asked him a number of questions and he just said everyone was consenting to the staged robbery, that nothing bad was going to happen.’
Kunu denied making this whole ‘staged robbery’ explanation up, even though it seems quite clear that he’s just trying to put some blame on the dead guy. Oliver White was so devastated by the incident that he tried to transfer £14,000 of his own savings to his bosses after the robbery. The idea that it was an insurance scam doesn’t add up either, because these robbers took so many items from Oliver’s shop that the insurance would have been a pittance.
None of the watches have been recovered since the robbery. Here’s hoping the court and jury see sense and throw the book at these scumbags.
RIP Oliver, and thoughts with his family and friends, and girlfriend Alana Dredge.
To watch Sainsbury’s staff beat up a shoplifter after dragging him into a back room, click HERE.
