BBC Breakfast presenter Ben Thompson has said he no longer feels safe in London after he was the victim of an attack for his £7,000 Rolex.
Thompson and a friend were targeted for their high-value watches by a gang of six men as they left a high-end restaurant last year.
The Rolex was a birthday present from his partner which had been custom engraved, according to the Daily Mail.
It was ripped from the BBC presenter’s wrist in the brutal attack.
Thompson now has a scar on his wrist as a result of the violent assault in March last year.
His friend, luxury perfumier Roja Dove, also had his £150,000 watch snatched.
Dove, 69, was thrown to the ground before he had his hugely valuable diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe swiped in the attack.
Two of the gang, identified through CCTV, were sentenced at the Old Bailey.
In a victim impact statement, the BBC Breakfast star told how he has suffered anxiety and flashbacks since the brutal attack.
“After this attack my behaviour has changed – I no longer feel safe in London,” he said.
Thompson added: “I am nervous and jumpy when I hear a jogger or cyclist approaching behind me.”
The pair were reportedly targeted by the gang after they were seen leaving Cecconi’s restaurant in Mayfair, London.
Defendant Hocine Boulanouar, 26, had denied his two charges of robbery and was sentenced to four years and three months in prison.
The second defendant, Danis Tom-Deter, 36, pleaded guilty to the offences and was handed a sentence of two years and three months in prison.
