Four men who st+bbed a music industry boss to d£ath for a ‘£125,000’ Patek Philippe watch, that was probably a fake, are facing jail, Daily Mail is reporting.
Emmanuel Odunlami, 32, was k#lledwhile out celebrating his birthday at an event at Haz restaurant near St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London in the early hours of May 2nd, 2022.
According to the report, security guard Kavindu Hettarachchi, 30, was working at the event and spotted that Mr Odunlami was wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch which, if real, can be worth up to £300,000, and filmed him wearing it.
Hettarachchi then tipped off his associates Jordell Menzies, 27, Quincy Ffrench and Louis Vandrose, both 28, by sending photos, who drove over armed with kniv£s to rob him outside the eatery.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told jurors: ‘The grim and tragic irony of all this is that there is a good reason to think that the Patek Philippe watch wasn’t even genuine. The defendant – although of course he wasn’t to know that at the time – had k#lled Emmanuel Odunlami for a fake watch.’
Mr Odunlami, who worked in the music industry managing artists, tried to run away but Menzies caught up and st+bbed him in the heart with a flick knife. Antonios Kfoury, 22, who was also working as a security guard, tried to cover up his friends’ crimes by lying to police.
Menzies admitted robbery and mansla¥ghter and had described the victim as an ‘easy’ civilian target for a r%bbery. He admitted arming himself with the flick-knife but said he did not intend to use it. Menzies denied but was convicted of m¥rder by an Old Bailey jury today after a retrial.
Mr Odunlami’s mother broke down in tears and said: ‘Thank you god. I got justice for my son, thank you, thank you.’ Ffrench and Vandrose had both admitted robbery. They denied the charges and were cleared of m¥rder but convicted of manslaughter at the first trial earlier this year. Hettarachchi had admitted theft. He denied but was convicted of mansla¥ghter and robbery.
measure. Having got what they came for, they ran back to the car, and got away, leaving Mr Odunlami to d#e on the street’
Ffrench, of Tottenham, Vandrose, of Islington and menzies of High Wycombe, each admitted robbing Mr Odunlami of his wrist watch but denied his m¥rder. Menzies admitted mansla¥ghter and r%bbery but denied m*rder. Ffrench, Vandrose and Hettiarachchi denied and were convicted of mansla¥ghter.
Kfoury, of Ealing, west London, denied and was convicted of perverting the course of justice. Following Menzies’ conviction, Judge Patrick Field KC remanded him in custody to be sentenced at a later date.
