Oliver White, a watch dealer in London committed suicide shortly after a video emerged of him being restrained and robbed of the expensive timepieces by two men. The suspicion is that the watch seller feared he would be held responsible for the theft of the £2.8million worth of luxury watches.
CCTV footage showed two men, pretending to be interested in buying his timepieces, turning out to be thieves. One of the men suddenly dashed at him, putting him in a chokehold and retraining him on his chair while the other man started stealing his watches and putting them away in the other’s backpack.
Video below:
‘He was very depressed after the robbery and was filled with a lot of worry especially after it was established that around £2.8million worth of watches had been stolen”, a close friend of White told Dailymail.
‘Olli was petrified that he could lose all that he owned and that they might even take his mother’s house.
‘He was also traumatized by what happened and became very fearful about the impact this robbery could have on his and his family’s financial future. He just didn’t know what was going to happen.’
‘He wasn’t sure if the insurance would have covered the theft or if there was any insurance at all. The robbery left him broken and combined with the financial uncertainty over who would be responsible he couldn’t see another way out.’
‘Olli took it very personally and really believed that he would get all the blame and that it would ruin him.’
The robbery happened in south-west London on Saturday and hours later, White was found dead in his family home in Shepperton, Middlesex, on Sunday.
According to the Surrey police, “A man in his 20s was sadly pronounced dead at the scene”, after they arrived at the scene following a call reporting a concern for safety at about 8:15 pm. “His next of kin are aware and are being supported. Inquiries are still ongoing, but his death is not thought to be suspicious”, the police added.
The police are also on the lookout for the robbers and have asked for the help of the public in finding them. Anyone with information that can lead to the arrest of the thieves should call 101, quoting incident number CAD4555/25May, or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
According to the Metropolitan Police, though investigations are ongoing, Oliver’s death is not been treated as suspicious.
“We are aware of the death of a man in Surrey on Sunday, 26 May. This is being investigated by officers from Surrey Police and is not being treated as suspicious at this time’ a spokesman said.
‘The man who died was the victim of a robbery at a jewelers place in Richmond on Saturday, 25 May.
‘We ask that the privacy of his family is respected at this difficult time.”
20-year-old Oliver White left behind a grieving mother, stepfather, and girlfriend.