A bricklayer testified in court that he was handed the stolen watch at the pub after being accused of robbing F1 driver Lando Norris of his $144,00 Richard Mille timepiece following the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
The £144,000 Richard Mille watch, one of only five in the world, was snatched off the 23-year-old McLaren driver’s wrist by another man as the driver was being held in a headlock by an unidentified male.
Norris was attacked as he made his way to his sports car after England lost to Italy on penalties on July 11, 2021.
A 25-year-old man named Liam Williams from Bootle, Merseyside, is suspected of stealing the watch and placing his DNA on the racing driver’s arm.
According to evidence presented at Harrow Crown Court, the Richard Mille “prototype limited edition McLaren watch,” also known as the RM6702, was the only one in existence with a blue strap customized for Mr. Norris.
Williams, who denies the charge of robbery, has described to the jury how he went to London with friends in an attempt to get into Wembley to see the Euro final since they missed tickets.
He explained that he and three friends took a black Mercedes from Liverpool to north-west London, but none of them managed to purchase tickets for the championship game.
Williams claimed that he ran up a Londoner he knew from a Croatian music event and that this led to him watching the championship game on his phone while standing outside a Wembley bar.
“After the match at the pub, around 12am, the two other members that were with us left,” he said. “Shortly after, within the hour, the two lads that had joined us, they came back with the watch and were showing it to the three lads I was with.”
“At that point I didn’t realise that had been stolen.”
John Kearney who was defending asked him: “They were showing the watch and I think you said at that point you didn’t know anyone had been robbed?”
Williams replied: “No.”
He claimed that while he had peeked over to take a look at it, he had not paid close attention. “Conversations were going, but I wasn’t actually in the conversation. I believed they had just found it.”
Williams was negative when Mr. Kearney inquired if he had any role in the robbery as he claimed he no longer spoke to the three men he traveled from Liverpool to London with but was unable to provide their contact information.
Once the watch was yanked from racing driver Lando Norris’ wrist, Liam Williams claimed he received threatening calls telling him to stay quiet about it.
Williams also acknowledged that his DNA had been discovered on Mr. Norris’ wrist, but the court heard that he had no justification for this. He was also questioned by Mr. Silcott about why he ceased using that specific phone on July 16, 2021.
“Basically, at the party with the lads from London I was on the balcony, and I was on a video call on Instagram discussing the match with a friend from home and these lads having a watch and blah blah blah and one of the lads heard me and it got a bit heated,” he said.
“They were saying ‘why were you discussing the watch’… I don’t know if they thought I was setting them up.”
“Then on the Tuesday I could see all these telephone calls I had a number ringing me in the night and at this point I didn’t know who it was but as they were talking to me.”
“It was the same lad I had the argument with he was just saying ‘don’t mention anything about the watch’ to ‘keep my mouth shut and say no more.”
“He kept arguing with me down the phone and next day he did the same thing and just basically threatening me and at this point I thought I’m going to have to change my phone number.”
“And when I got arrested, I changed my phone number… I was a bit scared I was getting threats and stuff,” said Williams.
Williams chose not to comment when questioned repeatedly why he had decided not to explain why his DNA had been discovered on Mr. Norris’ wrist.
Norris had travelled from the Goodwood Festival of Speed with a friend named Max to the final and had parked in the Yellow parking lot.
In a police statement Norris said: “After attending Wembley Stadium I was speaking to members of the public and noticed Suspect One and Suspect Two walk around my car, while I was talking to other people.”
“I noticed them looking at my car and myself and the first one was keeping his head down and had his right hand near his pocket.”
“Suspect One slowly approached me and asked me: ‘Is this your car?’ I don’t recall exactly what happened, but Suspect One then went behind me and put his right arm around my neck and his left arm under my back.”
“Suspect One pulled me into him and pulled me back on my neck, meaning I was facing the sky and I couldn’t see him at this point.”
“Suspect One told Suspect Two to grab my watch. He shouted multiple times: ‘Grab the watch… Suspect One was holding me the whole time and Suspect Two was trying to grab the watch.”
“He struggled for a while and then used force to pull the watch off, leaving scratches on my arm.”
After conducting an investigation, police officer David Barrett informed the jury that witness Jason Parish had called 999 to report the crime at six minutes after midnight but had declined to give a statement.
“I can’t really help you,” he was not interested in getting involved and nobody else came forward. “There was one other person sitting in a car, but they could not help and several people sitting in a coach said they did not really see anything, but were there, which was not very helpful.”
Williams was not present when officers went to his parents’ Bootle home, but they were allowed to search the house anyway since there was no warrant.
On July 18, 2021, Williams surrendered to police, and when Norris was airlifted in for an identity parade, he was unable to identify the defendant.
Williams claimed to the jury today that he spent the evening with the two Londoners at a party. He was threatened and warned that there would be repercussions if he named anyone.
“They had the watch out at the party, but I did not really want to get involved. I realised the watch was stolen.”
Williams said he later changed his phone number because he was in danger. “I started receiving threats… My suspicion was these lads thought I would give them up for the reward.”
The trial continues.
