Lando Norris, Formula 1 star, put in padlock and robbed of his £144,000 Richard Mille watch

F1 star Lando Norris was shackled in a head lock and robbed of his £144,000 designer watch in his sports car after the Wembley final at the European Championships 2020, a court heard today.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver was held captive by an unknown man and his unique Richard Mille RM 67-02 watch – built especially for the racer – was violently snatched from his wrist by another man.

Harrow Crown Court heard today that Liam Williams, 25, of Bootle, Merseyside, is accused of being the person who snatched the watch, leaving his DNA on the arm of the racing driver.

Williams pleaded not guilty to charges of robbing Norris outside the stadium on July 11, 2021, after England were defeated by Italy on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Norris had driven his bright orange £165,000 McLaren GT sports car from the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​to the final and stopped in the yellow car park.

In his July 12 statement, Norris told police he parked his McLaren in the VIP area, having traveled to the final with a friend named Max.

He returned to the sports car around midnight and posed for a photo with a fan and chatted with members of the public, circling his signature car.

After attending Wembley Stadium, I was speaking to the crowd and I noticed Suspect One and Suspect Two walking around in my car, while I was talking to other people.

I noticed they were looking at my car and myself and he was the first to keep his head down and his right hand was near his pocket.

One of the suspects slowly approached me and asked, “Is this your car?” I don’t remember exactly what happened, but the first suspect went behind me and put his right arm around my neck and his left arm under my back.

One of the suspects pulled me to him and grabbed my neck again, meaning I was facing the sky and couldn’t see him at this point.

One of the suspects told the second suspect to grab my watch. He shouted several times: “Take the watch.”

The suspect was holding me the whole time and the second suspect 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.

When the suspect put his arm around my neck, the second suspect managed to remove the watch from my left wrist and they ran down the footpath to Rutherford Road.

From there I don’t know where they went. My view is blocked.

Recalling the details, the racing driver added: ‘The suspect was very close putting his arm around my neck.

“The suspect was ten feet away and I saw one suspect for ten seconds and the interaction was about thirty seconds, which wasn’t very long.”

And the contestant gave a second interview on February 12 of last year, confirming that he did not know Williams, and because of the Corona virus, he had no contact with strangers on the field.

Prosecutor Tyrone Silcott told the jury: “Some of you who are into football may remember that day, the day England lost the European Championship final at Wembley.

Mr. Norris attended that match and when he returned to his car after the match his watch was stolen by two men. The case for the crown is that this defendant is one of these two men.

We all agree, both the Crown and the Defense that Mr. Norris has been robbed. We don’t have to decide whether there was a robbery nor a dispute whose watch was stolen by two men.

The issue boils down to one question. Are you sure the defendant was one of these two thieves? If you are you will condemn him.

Giving more details, the public prosecutor added: ‘He had parked his bright orange McLaren and when he got back to his car he was speaking to the crowd.

He noticed two men walking around his car and approached one of them asking, “Is this your car?” “

He went after Mr. Norris and caught him. He put his right arm around his neck and his left arm behind his back and pulled Mr. Norris back, making him look up at the sky.

The person pulling him back beckoned the partner to take the watch while the other man pulled the watch from his wrist and as he did, scratched his left wrist.

Mr. Norris was able to describe one of them as a white man of medium build, short hair between his mid-twenties and thirties, who he thought had a London accent.

“This defendant does not have a London accent,” Silcott added. The first man was also described as wearing a black hooded jacket and black pants.

The second man was dressed in gray and was wearing a hood and Mr. Norris had not seen this man, he was standing back and did not think he would ever recognize this man again.

CCTV recorded the incident. “You can see someone walk up to the figure and pull it back, but there’s no way you can make an identification from the CCTV.”

The watch was described as a limited-edition prototype, with a made-to-measure blue strap, designed to fit a racing driver and was never available to the retail general public.

Two swabs were taken from Mr Norris’ left wrist, which revealed that the likelihood of Williams’ DNA being 37 million times greater than that of an unknown person.

Analysis of his mobile phone also revealed a trip from Liverpool to the Wembley Stadium area on 11 July, where he stayed until the early hours of 12 July before returning home on 13 July.

There is no plausible explanation for the presence of his DNA on his scratched wrist.

At the identification line, the race driver was unable to pick Williams.

The trial continues, Norris denies the theft.