Wednesday, December 20, 2023 – A gang of thieves who stabbed a music industry executive to death for a ‘£125,000’ fake Patek Philippe watch, are set to be jailed.
Emmanuel Odunlami, 32, was killed while out celebrating his birthday at an event at Haz restaurant near St Paul’s Cathedral in London in the early hours of 2 May 2022.
Security guard Kavindu Hettarachchi, (pictured below) aged 30, was working at the event spotted Odunlami was wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch which, if real, could 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 came armed with knives to rob him outside the restaurant.
Speaking to jurors, Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said: ‘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 killed 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 stabbed him in the heart with a 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 manslaughter and had described the victim as an ‘easy’ civilian target for a robbery.
He admitted arming himself with the flick-knife but said he did not intend to use it.
Menzies was convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury on Tuesday, December 19 after a retrial.
The victim’s mother collapsed in tears saying in court: ‘Thank you god. I got justice for my son, thank you, thank you.’
Judge Patrick Field, KC, will set a date for sentencing on Thursday.
The prosecutor told jurors: ‘On 1st May 2022 a young man named Emmanuel Odunlami attended a smart party in a restaurant just around the corner from this building – the restaurant is called Haz, just 500 metres from here.
‘It was a smart party, people had paid quite a lot of money to be there, and some of them were dressed accordingly.
‘Mr Odunlami, for instance, was wearing a Patel Philippe Nautilus watch.
‘I don’t know if that means anything to you- but for those in the know, a Patek Philippe Nautilus is really quite something.
‘If real it would cost about £125,000. And that night it cost Emmanuel Odunlami his life.
‘Because whilst he was at that party he was spotted by one of the security staff working at Haz.
‘That man took a photo of him wearing that watch, and sent it to his mates, whose job it was to rob the target of his watch.
‘A team of robbers drove down to the restaurant in a white Mercedes.
‘The defendant, Jordell Menzies, was one of that team of robbers. He had armed himself with a knife.
‘He was the first of the robbers to reach Mr Odunlami, and when he reached him, he stabbed him in the chest.
‘The knife penetrated his victim’s heart.
‘That stab wound had the desired effect. Mr Odunlami fell to the floor. Mr Menzies and his accomplices were able to snatch the watch of his wrist and make their escape- but not before Mr Menzies had given him a kick on the floor for good measure.
‘Having got what they came for, they ran back to the car, and got away, leaving Mr Odunlami to die on the street’.
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