A fashion designer was robbed of his Richard Mille watch worth more than 160,000 euro (£137,000) when it was cut from his wrist outside a restaurant in Mayfair, jurors have been told.
Ali Eldahouzze, 22, and Abdel El Habchi, 30, are accused of stealing Romanian entrepreneur Catalin Botezatu’s diamond encrusted watch.
Jurors at Southwark Crown Court heard Mr Botezatu was robbed after he left Latin American restaurant Amazonico in Berkeley Square, central London, just before midnight on January 28.
Prosecutor Arizuna Asante told the court on Tuesday: “He (Mr Botezatu) stood near his car smoking for a few minutes with his friend before he was approached by three males.
“The three males surrounded Mr Botezatu and robbed him of his watch by wresting it from his left wrist.
“It is a believed a knife was used to cut through the rubber strap because the victim had cuts on his wrists after the watch was taken.”
He said the defendants then ran from the scene.
Prosecutors say the two defendants robbed Mr Botezatu of his watch with a third man called Younes Djoudi who, jurors were told, has pleaded guilty to robbery.
The court heard Mr Botezatu received the watch about 10 years ago and prosecutors say it would now be worth “significantly more”.
It is said that before the incident Djoudi walked past the complainant as he smoked outside the restaurant shortly after 10.15pm before later walking by with Eldahouzze and El Habchi, when they looked at the alleged victim before walking off.
“What the prosecution say about that is that it demonstrates that all three individuals I have named were scoping out not only the restaurant but also the victim, and must have noticed the watch or recognised it,” Mr Asante said.
Eldahouzze, who wore a white shirt and dark tie, and El Habchi, who wore a patterned short-sleeved shirt, were assisted by an Arabic interpreter in the dock.
The pair each deny one count of robbery and the trial continues.
