Jail looms for robbers who grabbed fashion designer’s watch
Three Moroccan ‘Rolex Rippers’ who robbed a fashion designer of his £170,000 designer watch outside a Mayfair restaurant are facing jail.
Catalin Botezatu fought back as he was attacked by Ali Eldahouzze, 22, and Abdel El Habchi, 30, before Younes Djoudi cut the diamond and crystal Richard Mille from his wrist.
Mr Botezatu, who has worked for Versace, said he feared for his life as the thieves struck as he smoked with his friend outside the Latin American restaurant Amazonico in Berkeley Square on January 28.
He was left with cuts to his wrists after one of the men slashed through his rubber strap with a knife.
Eldahouzze and El Habchi, both aided by Arabic interpreters, denied but were convicted by a Southwark Crown Court jury of robbery.
Djoudi, 34, earlier admitted the charge.
El Habchi, a Moroccan social media influencer, claimed he had absolutely no idea that a robbery was to take place.
He told jurors he was born near Casablanca in Morocco and entered the UK by spouse visa in March 2019 after marrying a woman called Amy.
Eldahouzze claimed he was acting under duress from Djoudi.
He told jurors he has two million followers on Facebook, 350,000 on Instagram, and 95,000 on TikTok, where he does livestreams of him going around London.
Judge Dafna Spiro told El Habchi and Eldahouzze: ‘You have been convicted unanimously by the jury of this offence, of which you are both clearly guilty of, and having been found guilty I now need to sentence you which I will most likely do on the 16 October.
‘In the mean time, you will be remanded in custody.’
Mr Botezatu received the limited edition diamond-encrusted watch for up to €200,000 (£170,000) more than a decade ago and the timepiece would now be worth considerably more.
He said the watch had a high sentimental value as he was given it by a friend who has since died.
Prosecutor Arizuna Asante said the three thieves were part of a joint enterprise to rob the designer after they scoped out their target outside the eatery that night.
Mr Botezatu studied under Gianni Versace before launching his own fashion label Delphi back in Bucharest, and has featured at Paris, New York and Milan fashion week.
He also hosted the Romanian version of Next Top Model from 2011 to 2012.
Assisted by a Romanian interpreter Mr Botezatu gave evidence from behind a screen as he went through photographs of his injuries.
He said: ‘That’s the first scratch, there was another scratch on the other side of my wrist but unfortunately it’s not here [in the photo].’
Mr Botezatu said bruises on his back occured when he was ‘pushed into the metal railings where I was attacked’.
He said: ‘I used my arm to protect my operation and they pushed me into the railings.’
Under cross examination Mr Botezatu raised his voice as he said: ‘I could become emotional but I don’t want to do this.
‘My life was in danger, do you think that whilst I was attacked …and I was trying to protect my operations and [make sure] I was not killed, I looked to see it was on this side or that side that the watch was cut?’
He demonstrated what happened to jurors and said: ‘I tried to defend myself like this, they cut the strap with a sharp object.’
Mr Botezatu said his assistant ‘chased them for about 500m together, then they split up, two together one.
‘My assistant chased the man who went to one side separately, who had the hand in a pocket.’
Asked if he saw the muggers’ faces, he said: ‘It was not the desert, it was in the middle of London in Mayfair and even if I didn’t see the faces of these criminals i do remember because hey ho, I am a fashion designer, I remember how they were dressed.’
Eldahouzze, who wore a white shirt and dark tie, and El Habchi, sporting a patterned short-sleeved shirt, both denied robbery.
