Morocco-born influencer Abdel El Habchi has denied knowingly taking part in the alleged robbery of Romanian fashion designer Catalin Botezatu’s £170,000 diamond-encrusted Richard Mille watch outside Amazonico in Mayfair. He told a jury he did not know a robbery was planned and only realised something had been taken after co-defendant Younes Djoudi grabbed an item from the victim’s hand; the case concerns an alleged violent attack on a prominent fashion figure.

Prosecutors allege El Habchi, Ali Eldahouzze and Djoudi ambushed 59-year-old Botezatu on 28 January, with two men restraining him while a third used a knife to cut off his watch. El Habchi, 30, said Djoudi had threatened both him and Eldahouzze, including a threat to burn his children if he contacted police, and claimed Djoudi instigated an assault on him in Wandsworth prison. He said he has around one million Facebook followers, 350,000 Instagram followers and a TikTok account.