A luxury watch salesman took his own life after he was accused of “not putting up enough of a fight” with robbers who grabbed £1.3 million worth of jewellery from his shop, a court heard.
Oliver White, 27, felt so guilty about the raid that he offered the business owners £14,000 that he had been saving up for a deposit on a flat with his girlfriend.
Shortly after attempting to transfer the money he went to the woods at Shepperton in Surrey where he had played as a boy.
He was found dead there by a friend the following morning.
Mr White had been restrained with cable ties during the raid at 247 Kettles store in Kew Road, Richmond, on May 25 2024.
Junior Kunu, 29, is accused of robbing the shop and Mannix Pedro, 37, of planning the raid.
An accomplice, who has since fled abroad, had scheduled a meeting with Mr White so that all the watches they wanted were available, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
They and two other unnamed accomplices had been at the shop two days before the raid on May 23 for either an aborted raid or to case the shop, the court has heard.
The owners, Conor Thornton and Joe Riley, were in the United States when the robbery took place.
They immediately flew back to London and saw Mr White the day after.
Prosecutor Edward Brown said: “They and Oliver White had been friends for a number of years and it was this friendship that had led to Mr White taking up work there.
“The robbery, however, meant that there was of course a huge loss and the watches were not insured.”
Mr Brown said Mr White was so upset that he sent his £14,000 savings to the owners via an email that afternoon.
“He was to tell his girlfriend that during the meeting he had been accused of not putting up enough of a fight,” Mr Brown said.“Oliver was left feeling he had somehow let others down.”
Mr Pedro was arrested on May 29. He was released on bail but arrested again as he tried to fly out to Marseille. Mr Kunu was arrested on June 5.
None of the watches have been recovered, the prosecutor said.
Mr Kunu, of Mitcham, south-east London and Mr Pedro, of Cobham, Surrey, deny conspiracy to commit robbery between Feb 28 and May 26 2024.
The trial continues.
