In the United Kingdom, a Nigerian was stabbed to death over a £300,000 wristwatch

A Nigerian-born music manager in the United Kingdom, Emmanuel Odunlami, was stabbed to death after leaving an upmarket restaurant in London, the United Kingdom, a court heard.

The Old Bailey heard on Tuesday that three robbers stole Emmanuel Odunlami’s Patek Philippe Nautilus, believing it was the genuine article.

Odunlami was stabbed to death for a fake luxury watch after a security guard, Kavindu Hettiarachchi, spotted the timepiece — which can cost up to £300,000 — and filmed Odunlami wearing it outside the City of London eatery.

Hettiarachchi alerted his associates, who “waited for their prey,” chasing, catching, and beating the victim who had been stabbed in the heart.

During the assault, one person “was heard to say, ‘Got it,’” according to prosecutor Duncan Atkinson, KC.

Meanwhile, Hettiarachchi who is 30 years old, has denied manslaughter while appearing in court.

Quincy Ffrench, 27, Jordell Menzies, 26, and Louis Vandrose, 27, are the three robbers accused of killing Odunlami. They have all admitted robbery but not murder.

Menzies, whose DNA was found on the attack knife, confessed to manslaughter.

Antonios Kfoury, 21, a Hettiarachchi colleague, also denied perverting justice, claiming he lied to police to cover for Hettiarachchi.

Odunlami, a 32-year-old music industry executive, was attacked by the three robbers after leaving Haz restaurant near St Paul’s Cathedral in London on May 1, last year, according to the Old Bailey.

According to Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC, the watch “may not have been genuine,” but those accused of stealing it treated it as such.

He told jurors that Hettiarachchi was a “vital member of the security team” hired by event organizer Playhxuse for the private ticketed brunch and afterparty with DJ.

“It was part of his role to protect the safety of those attending the event, like Mr Odunlami,” Mr Atkinson said.

In fact, he did the inverse.”

The victim, known to friends as Jay, worked in the music industry, managing a number of performing artists, jurors were told.

He had driven to the City in his grey hatchback Mercedes on the day of his death to celebrate his birthday with friends, having purchased tickets for a £1,400 table.

“Unfortunately, as it turned out, he liked expensive brand watches,” Atkinson told the court.

He was wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch when he was fatally attacked.

“If real, such a watch could be worth anything in a range from £90,000 to £300,000. It is believed that the deceased’s watch was not genuine, but was treated as such by those who attempted to steal it.”

The court was told that as the event came to a close around 11 p.m., Hettiarachchi was caught on camera filming outside the venue and calling Louis Vandrose.

The court heard that Vandrose and Jordell Menzies were then driven by Quincy Ffrench in a white Mercedes with altered number plates from north-west London.

“The evidence shows that Ffrench, Vandrose, and Menzies were setting off in a car with a disguised registration to carry out a robbery, and that their target for that robbery was at the Haz restaurant where Hettiarachchi was working, and to which he had summoned them by phone,” Atkinson said.

The security guard was said to have filmed the victim and his “high-value” watch before appearing to type something into his phone.

“The prosecution case is that he was making those other defendants aware of Mr Odunlami and his watch, in order for them to rob him of that apparently very valuable item,” Atkinson said.

“Those planning the robbery of Mr Odunlami of what appeared to be a very valuable watch would not have expected him to simply surrender,” the prosecutor said.

“Rather, he needed to be forced to do so, and one of those in Mr Ffench’s Mercedes was armed with a knife to that end.”

“When they were ready, the defendants Ffrench, Vandrose, and Menzies got out of the car and ran towards Mr Odunlami,” Atkinson said.

“On seeing the robbers closing in on him, Mr Odunlami tried to run, but he was caught by Menzies and then taken to the ground by the combination of Menzies and by Vandrose.

“Once Mr Odunlami was on the ground, all three defendants attacked him, shod feet were used as weapons to kick the defenceless man on the ground.

“During that attack, one of the robbers, identified as Ffrench, bent down and took the object of this exercise, Mr Odunlami’s Patek Phillippe Nautilus watch.

“As he did so, he was heard saying, ‘got it.’”

The defendants then fled, leaving the victim with a fatal stab wound to the chest on the ground.

“It appears from the CCTV that he was stabbed before any demand was made of him, or any other form of attempt to take his watch from him,” Atkinson said.

A flick knife was recovered nearby and scientific analysis linked it to the victim and Menzies, who used it to murder him, jurors heard.

According to the court, the three robbers then went to Bloomsbury and changed their clothes before parting ways.

“The prosecution case is that Menzies was physically responsible for using that knife to stab an unarmed man,” Atkinson said.

“According to the pathologist, it was a blow delivered with at least a moderate level of force that penetrated 8cm through Mr Odunlami’s chest into the right ventricle of his heart.”

Menzies is charged with murder, along with Ffrench and Vandrose, who are accused of conspiring to encourage and facilitate the fatal stabbing.

Hettiarachchi, of Harrow, who worked as a security operator for Supreme Security, is accused of robbery and manslaughter.

Hettiarachchi was said to have fake versions of high-value watches at his home, implying an interest in and knowledge of expensive timepieces.

He allegedly sought the assistance of his friend and colleague Kfoury, of Ealing, who is accused of perverting the course of justice.

Kfoury is accused of attempting to conceal Hettiarachchi’s role in the security arrangements for the event at Haz and making a false statement to police.

The defendants have denied the charges against them, and the trial at the Old Bailey continues.

Source: TheStreetJournal | Read More from Thestreetjournal.org