The jury has retired to consider its verdicts in the trial of two men allegedly involved in a £1.38 million robbery that may have led a jewellery store manager to kill himself. Junior Kunu, 30, and Mannix Pedro, 37, are charged with conspiring with others to commit the robbery after watches were stolen from a south-west London jewellery store last year. Office manager Oliver White, 27, took his own life the next day “as a direct result” of the robbery, jurors were told.
Kunu and Pedro are on trial at Woolwich Crown Court but at least two others said to have been involved are at large. More than 70 “high-value” watches were taken from the 247 Kettles shop in Richmond on May 25, the court heard. Mr White’s witness statement, given to police after the alleged attack, was read to the court. He said that on May 25 two men entered Kettles and “their body language was completely relaxed and there was nothing that made me suspect anything”.
Mr White said he was put in a headlock and could not move as they took the watches, and his skin was left reddened. 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, the court heard. Kunu, of Mitcham, south-west London, and Pedro, of Woking, Surrey, deny the charges. The trial continues.
