Man says he faced death threat to steal £137k watch

A man accused of robbing a fashion designer of a diamond-encrusted watch worth £137,000 (€160,000) has told a court he was threatened with being set on fire if he did not take part in the crime.

Ali Eldahouzze, 22, and Abdel El Habchi, 30, are alleged to have been part of a plot to target Catalin Botezatu after he had dinner with his assistant and a friend in Mayfair, central London.

Botezatu had been smoking a cigar on the terrace of the restaurant Amazonico in Berkeley Square on 28 January and shortly before midnight his Richard Mille watch was cut from his wrist, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Eldahouzze and El Habchi each deny one count of robbery.

A third man - Younes Djoudi - has admitted the charge.

Eldahouzze told jurors Djoudi had threatened his life and told him to take the watch.

"He was threatening me, cursing my mother, threatening that he would kill and set me on fire," he said.

"I was looking at the floor, I was very scared. He kept telling me to go and grab that thing.

"I didn't understand what he meant because I'm Moroccan and I couldn't understand exactly what he meant."

Prosecutors say Eldahouzze helped Djoudi by pushing Botezatu and grabbing his arm.

Eldahouzze denied any physical contact, telling the court: "As soon as I saw what he (Djoudi) was doing, I just fled."

He said he had refused to follow Djoudi's instruction to take the watch, and feared for his safety afterwards.

"To be honest, that evening, I thought he was going to do something to me, going to kill me or set me on fire while I was at home," he said.

Prosecutor Arizuna Asante previously told the court that three males "surrounded" Botezatu and "robbed him of his watch by wrestling it from his left wrist".

"It is 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 told jurors.

El Habchi, who the court heard is a social media influencer in Morocco, gave evidence last week that he had "no idea" of a plot to steal a watch.

He said he and Eldahouzze had been travelling from Slough to Soho hours before the alleged robbery when Eldahouzze had taken a call from Djoudi telling him to meet in Mayfair.

Djoudi met the pair the following morning with the watch, he added.

The trial continues.

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