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Richmond: Jury discharged in £1.38m watch robbery trial

Richmond: Jury discharged in £1.38m watch robbery trial

BBC News21-02-2025
A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a man accused of conspiring to commit robbery at a jewellery store - a raid after which its manager took his own life.Junior Kunu, 30, was accused along with Mannix Pedro - who was convicted on Wednesday - after watches were taken from the 247 Kettles shop in Richmond, south-west London, on 25 May.The Woolwich Crown Court jury was discharged after deliberating for 28 hours over the case against Mr Kunu.The trial heard that the shop's office manager Oliver White - who was tied up and put in a headlock during the robbery - took his own life the next day "as a direct result" of the raid, in which more than 70 high-value watches were taken.
Mr Kunu, of Mitcham, had said the robbery was "staged" and everyone involved consented - including 27-year-old Mr White, whom he claimed would have "put up more of a fight" if he had thought the raid was genuine.A date for a preliminary hearing to discuss whether there is to be a retrial has yet to be set.Mr Kunu, who is in custody, was told he does not have to attend that hearing.None of the stolen watches has been recovered or was insured, despite the business being a victim of theft three years earlier, jurors were told.Pedro, 37, of Woking in Surrey, was found guilty on Wednesday of conspiring to commit robbery.Pedro, who was not in the shop on 25 May, was "closely involved in the planning and execution" of the raid, including the use of a stolen Audi as one of two getaway cars, the court heard.
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