A person accused of robbing Olympic bike owner Mark Cavendish advised a courtroom he was in a automobile used to journey to the break-in however insisted he was not conscious of or concerned within the crime.
Balaclava-clad intruders broke into Cavendish’s house in Ongar, Essex, on November 27, 2021, whereas he was asleep upstairs together with his spouse Peta, with their three-year-old little one additionally within the mattress, prosecutors stated.
Mrs Cavendish stated that one of many raiders held a Rambo-style knife to her husband’s throat and threatened to stab him earlier than the gang made off.
Two Richard Mille watches, valued at £400,000 and £300,000, had been among the many gadgets taken within the knifepoint break-in at about 2.30am.
Romario Henry, 31, of Bell Green, Lewisham, south-east London, and Oludewa Okorosobo, 28, of Flaxman Road, Camberwell, south London, deny two counts of theft.
They are accused of robbing Cavendish of a watch, cellphone and secure, and his spouse of a watch, cellphone and Louis Vuitton suitcase.
Romario Henry and Oludewa Okorosobo deny two counts of theft (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
Ali Sesay, 28, of Holding Street, Rainham, Kent, admitted two counts of theft at an earlier listening to and the trial was advised his DNA was discovered on the cellphone of Mrs Cavendish after it was dropped outdoors the house.
Two additional males, Jo Jobson and George Goddard, have been named as suspects within the case however haven’t been apprehended by police.
Henry accepted being in a Mercedes Benz which travelled from Windsor Road, the place Okorosobo was residing, to Ongar within the early hours of November 27, 2021, at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Giving proof on Monday, he insisted that although he was within the automobile on the night time in query, he was not conscious of a plan to rob the Cavendishes and was not concerned within the theft.
He had been visiting his brother’s grave earlier on the night of November 26, the place he stated he drank and took medication, the courtroom heard.
Jurors heard that Henry’s brother, Tashawn Watt, was murdered in June 2021 within the Lewisham house they shared with their mom.
Mark Cavendish leaves Chelmsford Crown Court (Joe Giddens/PA)
After visiting the grave, Henry made his solution to Windsor Road earlier than leaving there with Okorosobo, Sesay and a driver he refused to establish, it’s stated.
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Henry claimed that Okorosobo was dropped off at his brother’s home earlier than the automobile then travelled out of London.
Henry advised the courtroom that he thought he was going to Sesay’s ex-partner’s home.
He stated Sesay and the motive force obtained out of the automobile in Ongar however he didn’t know on the time the place they had been or what they had been doing.
He added that he couldn’t inform jurors precisely the place the automobile was parked earlier than his companions left.
The courtroom heard Henry didn’t go away the automobile.
Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of prosecutor Edward Renvoize questioning Olympic bike owner Mark Cavendish at Chelmsford Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
Asked about his bodily and psychological state at that time, Henry stated: “I used to be out of it.”
Pressed throughout cross-examination on what he thought was occurring when Sesay and the motive force obtained out of the automobile, Henry stated: “I used to be so tousled. The impact that these medication had had on me on that day.
“I used to be none the wiser. I used to be simply there. I can’t even describe to you proper now … how I used to be even working.”
He denied realizing a couple of plan to rob the Cavendish house, denied being one of many 4 males caught coming into the property on CCTV, denied performing as a lookout, denied having been on any reconnaissance journeys there and denied any intention to affix in with the others to rob the Olympian’s household.
He additional denied realising “at any stage on the time” that the others had been aspiring to burgle the property.
Henry additionally advised jurors he didn’t see anybody load a Louis Vuitton suitcase or dummy secure within the automobile, and didn’t see any watches nor any weapons.
One of the watches stolen (Essex Police/PA)
He advised the courtroom: “People in my automobile wasn’t placing on balaclavas or brandishing knives.”
Henry “acknowledged” what had occurred the subsequent day, jurors heard.
Asked if he referred to as 999 the morning after, he stated: “When I acknowledged what had occurred, I simply didn’t even need nothing to do with it.
“I simply didn’t need to know.”
Henry advised jurors earlier that his psychological wellbeing deteriorated after his brother was killed.
“I began to drink … a variety of alcohol. I began to eat medication,” he advised the courtroom.
He added that he would drink Hennessy “from morning till night time” and began to take small quantities of cocaine earlier than his drug consumption “escalated” to taking crack, hashish, Xanax and promethazine.
Henry stated: “At the time these had been the one issues that was crippling my ache.”
The trial continues.
