‘Fake’ £300k watch led to the murder of a UK based Nigerian music manager.

Emmanuel Odunlami, a music manager of Nigerian descent, was fatally attacked in the UK over what authorities suspect to be a fake luxury watch worth up to $300,000.

Odunlami was attacked by three thieves after hosting a party to celebrate his birthday, according to recent testimony presented at the Old Bailey, which serves as the principal criminal court for England and Wales.

The 32-year-old music manager was reportedly attacked on May 1, 2022, after leaving the Haz restaurant next to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, according to Daily Mail.

Security guard Kavindu Hettiarachchi is alleged to have informed Odunlami’s attackers that he was sporting a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch.

The prosecutor, Duncan Atkinson KC, stated during the court proceeding that it is thought the watch “may not have been genuine.”
Nonetheless, he said, the criminals handled the object as if it were real.

“Sadly, as it was to turn out, he liked expensive brand watches. At the time when he was fatally attacked, he was wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch,” the prosecutor said.

“If real, such a watch could be worth anything in a range from £90,000 to £300,000.

“It is believed the deceased’s watch may not have been genuine, but was treated as genuine by those who sought to take it.”

During the exclusive ticketed brunch and afterparty with DJ, Atkinson claimed that Hettiarachchi was “an key component of the security team” and had been engaged by the events planner.

“It was part of his role to protect the safety of those, like Mr Odunlami, who was attending the event. In fact he did the opposite,” he said.

Old Bailey was informed that Hettiarachchi called Louis Vandross, who is thought to be one of the robbers, following the incident.

The jury was informed that Quincy Ffrench later drove Vandrose and Jordell Menzies in a white Mercedes from north-west London with altered license plates.

“The evidence shows that Ffrench, Vandrose and Menzies were setting off in car with a disguised registration in order to carry out a robbery and that their target for that robbery was at the Haz restaurant where Hettiarachchi was working, and to which by phone he had summoned them,” the prosecutor said.

The security guard allegedly recorded the victim and his “high-value” watch before seeming like he was typing something into his phone.

“The prosecution case is that he was making those other defendants aware of Mr Odunlami and his watch, in order that they could rob him of that apparently very valuable item,” Atkinson said.