The theft, which took place on 25 May last year, saw £1.1 million worth of luxury watches stolen, including around 70 uninsured pieces such as a Rolex Sky Dweller valued at £30,000. CCTV footage showed Mehmet and Junior Kunu, 31, grabbing watches while store employee Oliver White, 27, was bound in a headlock by Mehmet.
Michael Holmes, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, had also been involved in a prior aborted raid at the store two days earlier. Mannix Pedro, 38, of Cobham, Surrey, was convicted in February for conspiracy to rob, having planned the raid, though he denied involvement at the time of the offence.
The stolen watches have not been recovered. Following the incident, White attempted to compensate the store owners, offering £14,000 as a deposit toward a flat for his long-term partner, but was devastated after being criticised for “not putting up enough of a fight.” He took his own life on 27 May, just two days after the robbery.
Kunu was acquitted after claiming that the heist was staged and that White had consented to it. Judge Philip Shorrock will sentence Pedro, Holmes, and Mehmet on a date to be confirmed.
The court heard allegations that the store, run by Maurice Sines and his son Fred, had connections to organised crime and served as a front. Fred Sines was previously given a suspended jail sentence for attempting to sell a £4.3 million gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019, while Maurice Sines has a historical association with the Kinahan cartel.
Pedro claimed there were bounties on the heads of Mehmet and Kunu and suggested the robbery may have been “an inside job” orchestrated by shadowy figures, including organised crime groups. Mehmet admitted to participating in the heist because he owed £190,000 to what he described as “serious criminals.”
All three convicted men have received threat-to-life warnings from police due to bounties reportedly placed on their heads. Meanwhile, alleged co-conspirator Michael Ashman remains at large and is believed to be abroad.
