Luxury jewelry retailer proprietor denies accusing watch salesman of being in on £1.4million theft earlier than he killed himself, court docket hears

The owner of a luxury jewellery shop has denied accusing a salesman of being in on a £1.4million raid hours before he took his own life, a court has heard. 

Conor Thornton, co-owner of 247 Kettles on Kew Road, Richmond, was in New York when 70 ‘high-value’ watches were stolen from the store on May 25 last year. 

His store manager, Oliver White, 27, was reportedly held in a chokehold and bound with cable ties by two unarmed robbers. 

Jurors at Woolwich Crown Court were previously told that Mr White died by suicide ‘as a direct result’ of the incident.

He was found dead in woodland in Shepperton, Surrey, the following day by a close friend after going missing.

Mannix Pedro, 37, and Junior Kunu, 30, have been charged with conspiring with others to commit robbery.

At least two others said to have been involved are at large – Michael Ashman and Kyle Bowrage.

Mr Thornton and co-owner Joe Riley gave evidence in court on Friday but both stood behind a screen to hide their identities from the defendants. 

The court heard that the pair had both been in New York at the time of the raid but flew home immediately.

They arrived on the morning of May 26 last year, a day after the robbery, and quickly arranged two meetings with Mr White. 

In a fiery exchange with Kunu’s defence lawyer, Tyrone Smith KC, Mr Thornton was questioned about these conversations. 

Mr Smith asked Mr Thornton: ‘Would it be fair to say those meetings did not go very well?

Mr Thornton replied: ‘What do you mean not very well?’

‘Sometimes, someone has been working in the shop and they are an innocent victim of a robbery,’ Mr Smith explained.

‘Other people would put their arm around and console them and look after them.

‘Were they like that, they weren’t were they?

‘I’d say they were,’ Mr Thornton replied.

Mr Smith then asked: ‘Well within a few hours of the meeting, Mr White killed himself didn’t he?

‘Is it right, people became critical of Mr White?

‘No,’ Mr Thornton replied.

‘Really? This is really important,’ Mr Smith said.

‘Was it being suggested that this man may have been involved?

Mr Thornton denied this.

‘The second meeting took place in the office didn’t it?

 ‘We have seen the CCTV (of the robbery), it is really good quality, is it right there is no CCTV of that incident that took place on May 26?

‘Yes,’ Mr Thornton said.

Mr Smith asked: ‘Did someone remove the hard drive that covered the shop after the meeting on 26 May shortly before he took his own life?

‘Both boxes were replaced after the incident,’ replied Mr Thornton.

Mr Smith then asked: ‘Who were they replaced by?

‘The security consultant,’ the shop owner replied.

Mr Smith asked: ‘Are you aware nobody has seen the footage of that meeting?’

‘No, but I am now,’ Mr Thornton replied.

Mr Smith then asked Mr Thornton a barrage of questions about what the co-owners asked Mr White.

These included whether they asked Mr White why he let three men in who ‘looked shady’, why he had so much stock out and why he didn’t call the police sooner.

Mr White confirmed all of these questions had been asked.

Mr Smith then put to Mr Thornton that he suspected Mr White of being involved in an ‘inside job’.

He said: ‘I would suggest to you that the reason you made the accusations like you did is knowing the watch business like you do, you are at a loss to understand why he acted like he did and the only conclusion you could draw was that this was an inside job, and you told him as much didn’t you?’

‘No,’ said Mr Thornton.

Mr Smith then asked: ‘Mr Thornton, did you accuse him of being part of an inside job on 26 May?

‘No,’ replied Mr Thornton

Mr Smith asked him: ‘Did you have anything to do with the events of May 25 in your shop?

Mr Thornton denied this.

Mr Smith asked: ‘Did you deliberately absent yourself from the country so you would not be there at the time of events?

Mr Thornton denied this.

The court also heard that Mr Thornton had known Mr White for over ten years and thought of him as a good friend.

Mr White had been working for 247 Kettles full time since the beginning of 2024 in a sales role.  

It is alleged that Kunu was one of the two men who robbed the shop, while Pedro planned the raid. 

Alleged accomplice Kyle Bowrage had scheduled a meeting with Mr White so that all the timepieces they wanted were available, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

Jurors have seen CCTV of Bowrage putting Mr White in a headlock as he is sitting in an office chair.

Bowrage and another alleged robber Michael Ashman have since fled abroad and are on the run.

Earlier, the court heard 247 Kettles had received a warning from police in February 2024 that it might be at risk of a robbery.

None of the watches stolen in the robbery were insured, despite the business previously being a victim of theft three years earlier, jurors were told.

However, the store was equipped with CCTV, panic buttons, magnetic lock doors, alarms and a smoke system, but the watches were not insured.

Mr Thornton told prosecutor Edward Brown that the reason for the initial lack of insurance was that watches were ‘something on the side’ and ‘so we did not take it seriously’.

When asked why, Mr Thornton said the company could not afford the premiums.

Mr Thornton confirmed that Mr White had been made aware of the risks identified by police.

Kunu, 29, of Mitcham, south London, and Pedro, 37, of Cobham, Surrey, deny conspiracy to commit robbery between February 28, 2024 and 26 May 2024.

The trial continues.