BBC Breakfast presenter Ben Thompson says he no longer feels safe in London after his £7,000 Rolex was ripped from his wrist by a gang of muggers.
Mr Thompson, 45, was on his way home from a restaurant in Mayfair, London, when he and his friend Roja Dove were grabbed by six men.
The robbers threw Mr Dove to the ground before snatching his £150,000 diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe watch.
Mr Thompson was then grabbed by three others before the attackers fled on March 11 last year.
‘After this attack my behaviour has changed – I no longer feel safe in London,’ Mr Thompson said in a victim impact statement read out as two of the gang were jailed this week.
‘I am nervous and jumpy when I hear a jogger or cyclist approaching behind me,’ added the former Middle East correspondent.
After the robbery he suffered from flashbacks at night and constant anxiety and stress, he said.
The specially engraved watch had been a gift from his partner, Andy Roche to celebrate him turning 40. He now has a scar where it was ripped from his wrist.
BBC Breakfast presenter Ben Thompson (left) says he no longer feels safe in London after his £7,000 Rolex was ripped from his wrist by a gang of muggers
Mr Thompson and his friend Roja Dove were watched leaving Cecconi’s restaurant (general view) by a ‘spotter’
The Old Bailey heard the pair were watched leaving Cecconi’s restaurant in Burlington Gardens, by a ‘spotter’.
Defendants Hocine Boulanouar, 26, and Danis Tom-Deter, 36, were later identified from CCTV.
Mr Dove, 69, who runs luxury perfum house Roja London, said: ‘I have worked hard for everything I have.
‘The watch was a present to myself when I reached the age of 65. The theft of the watch has meant all my hard work has been pointless.’
He also said that the robbery has changed his view of the city used in the name of his company. ‘I feel like my day-to-day behaviour has completely altered, especially when I am in London,’ he said.
‘When I walk through the streets of central London I feel like I am on high alert and I am very nervous. I feel very unsafe in London, a city I have loved my entire life.’
Boulanouar had previously been jailed for five months for street theft and was in breach of a six- month suspended sentence when he targeted Mr Thompson.
The judge, Mr Recorder Jeremy Benson, jailed Boulanouar for four years and three months.
He had denied the two charges of robbery and claimed he was nowhere near the scene even though he was seen on CCTV. Tom-Deter admitted both offences was sentenced to two years and nine months.
‘This was clearly a very frightening experience on the streets of central London at night,’ the judge said. ‘They were set upon and each man was held while their watches were dragged off their wrists.’
Police were unable to confirm the identities of the other four men involved.
Mr Thompson joined the BBC as a graduate trainee and regularly stands in for the main Breakfast presenters.
