Three jailed over watch raid linked to suicide

Three men have been jailed over a £1.1m robbery at a watch shop the day after which the store manager took his own life.

Oliver White, 27, was put in a headlock and tied up during the raid at the 247 Kettles shop in Richmond, south-west London, in May 2024 as more than 70 high-value watches were stolen.

Mannix Pedro, 38, of Woking, Surrey, was jailed for 20 years, Kyle Mehmet, 40, of Rotherham for 18 years, and Michael Holmes, 34, of Sheffield for 13 years - all for conspiracy to rob.

Paul Goddard, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said "the greed of these three men had considerable, and tragic, consequences".

He added: "Not only did the business they targeted suffer the loss of over £1m worth of stock, Oliver White, who was working at the premises, took his own life the following day as a direct result of the robbery.

"Our thoughts are with Oliver's loved ones for the terrible loss they have suffered."

Mehmet and Holmes were convicted in November following a trial at the same court. Pedro was found guilty last February.

In a previous statement, White's mother, Amy Keane, said: "We are all absolutely devastated with the loss of our funny, thoughtful and kind son Oliver; our lives will never be the same and we feel this loss every minute of every day."

Lionel Idan, chief crown prosecutor, said the CPS was working closely with the police to make sure organised crime groups "were thwarted in their pursuit of high-value watches in London, with perpetrators brought to justice".

He added: "We know watch thefts have been a stain on London's community so today's sentencing proves that we will do everything in our power to tackle this concerning trend.

"Anyone involved in similar criminal activity should take this as a warning that they will be caught and prosecuted with the full force of the law."

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