Moroccan influencer sobs in court and claims he 'had no idea' about Mayfair watch robbery

Abdel El Habchi, 30, broke down in tears at Southwark Crown Court as he denied taking part in the robbery of Romanian fashion designer Catalin Botezatu, who was relieved of his £137,000 Richard Mille watch by thieves outside Berkeley Square restaurant Amazonico. El Habchi, a 'media personality' in Morocco with around a million Facebook followers, told the court through an Arabic interpreter that he did not know a watch had been stolen until after the event. A third defendant, Younes Djoudi, has already pleaded guilty to the robbery, while Ali Eldahouzze, 22, also contests the charge.

Botezatu told jurors that three men charged at him, pinned him against a fence and cut the Richard Mille from his wrist with a blade just before midnight.

El Habchi said Djoudi had threatened to 'burn his kids' if he went to the police, which left him too afraid to come forward about what he had witnessed.

El Habchi told the court he had been sitting in Djoudi's car watching TikTok videos in the period before the incident, and insisted he had no sense that any attack was being planned.