‘Watch thief stole £8k Cartier outside Mayfair nightclub’

A watch thief stole an £8,000 Cartier timepiece and fractured his victim’s eye socket outside a high-end Mayfair club, a court heard.

Serewo Gwanzura, 23, and two other men set upon Gushinder Singh as he and a lady friend left Charlie’s nightclub opposite the Mayfair Hotel in Berkely Square on 29 October last year, it is alleged.

Mr Singh, who had been celebrating a friend’s birthday, was bundled over on Mount Street opposite the Porsche garage as kicks and punches rained down.

Gwanzura ripped off the £8,000 watch, which was a gift from Mr Singh’s brother, and then delivered a bone shattering blow before running off, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Robert Colover said: ‘Mr Singh was out at about ten to three with a female companion. He was in the Mayfair area and he was walking along.

‘There came a time when this defendant, with two other men it seems, were behind them.

‘They passed in front of various CCTV cameras along the route.

‘Mr Singh went round a corner and when he’s round the corner he was attacked by these three men.

‘He was pushed to the floor, punched in the face and this defendant grabbed at his watch – a Cartier watch worth about £8,000, a gift from his brother.’

Mr Singh set off in pursuit of the attackers but they split up and Gwanzura ended up close to the Saudi Arabian embassy.

He shouted to the armed police outside and they apprehended the sprinting watch thief, the court heard.

Immediately Mr Singh told them ‘that’s the man who stole my watch’.

Gwanzura was taken to the police station and was later picked out by Mr Singh in a lineup and reinterviewed.

‘Basically he says that far from being involved in the robbery, he came upon the robbery and in fact, was part of the chasing party with the victim,’ said the prosecutor.

Mr Singh said that story ‘is actually absurd’.

The other two attackers have not been found and neither has the watch.

Mr Singh, giving evidence behind a screen, said: ‘I had been at a place called Charlie’s which is near Berkeley Square, opposite the Mayfair hotel. It was my friend’s birthday.

‘I was with a friend going back to my car and as I was walking I literally got wrapped round the neck, pulled down and two people from the front have punched me.

‘They were after my watch, they tried grabbing my watch and I put my right hand on top of my wrist and then got punched and kicked and let go to protect my face.

‘After, I was able to get up and had chased after one of the suspects.

‘It was three people in all but I was only able to chase one because they had split directions.’

Mr Singh told jurors his zygoma was broken in two places, his nose was swollen, his eye haemorrhaged, his teeth were numb and he had lower back pain.

Gwanzura, of Shortlands Road, Bromley, denies robbery and grevious bodily harm.

The trial continues.
Ends