BBC Breakfast presenter Ben Thompson has been left scarred after a gang targeted him and a friend in London for their expensive watches
08:09, 06 Mar 2026Updated 12:22, 06 Mar 2026
Ben Thompson was robbed(Image: BBC)
BBC Breakfast’s Ben Thompson reveals he no longer feels safe in London after being attacked on the streets for his £7k watch. The presenter was on his way home from a restaurant in Mayfair when he and his friend Roja Dove were grabbed by a group of six men. Dove was thrown to the ground and had his £150k diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe watch stolen, while the group grabbed Thompson and forcibly removed his £7k piece.
In a victim impact statement read out as two of the gang were jailed this week, Thompson admitted his behaviour has changed since the incident. The former Middle East correspondent added: “I am nervous and jumpy when I hear a jogger or cyclist approaching behind me.”
A judge has since jailed Hocine Boulanouar, 26, and Danis Tom-Deter, 36, for their part in the crime. Boulanouar received a sentence of four years and three months, while Tom-Deter was jailed for two years and nine months.
It comes after Hollywood icon Tom Cruise reportedly upped and left his £35m Knightsbridge flat after an armed raid on a Rolex store left him feeling unsafe in London. A gang raid on a Bucherer store below his building saw six armed robbers make off with thousands of pounds worth of watches.
Hocine Boulanouar 26, was identified by CCTV
Danis Tom-Deter admitted his part in the theft
A source told Daily Mail at the time: “The over-aggressive attack on the store below cemented the lack of security surrounding the multi-million-pound flats where Cruise lives. “He often loved to take a walk around the area but it seems like Knightsbridge is becoming less safe by the week. He just felt the area has declined in the past year or two.”
Thompson’s watch was a specially engraved 40th birthday present from his partner, Andy Roche. The theft has left him with a scar where it was ripped from his wrist.
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As the case was heard at the Old Bailey, it’s said Thompson and Dove were watched leaving Cecconi’s restaurant in Burlington Gardens, by a “spotter”. CCTV later identified two of the group as Boulanouar and Tom-Deter.
Dove, 69, 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.”
Like Thompson, Dove admitted the incident has left him shaken on the streets of London. “I feel like my day-to-day behaviour has completely altered, especially when I am in London,” he confirmed.
Boulanouar had denied any involvement and claimed her wasn’t in the area at the time, despite the CCTV footage. Tom-Deter admitted his role in the theft and was jailed for two years and nine months.
Ben Thompson and Naga Munchetty on BBC Breakfast(Image: BBC)
“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.”
Sentencing Boulanouar and Tom-Deter, the judge said: “This was clearly a very frightening experience on the streets of central London at night. They were set upon and each man was held while their watches were dragged off their wrists.”
Boulanouar had denied any involvement and claimed her wasn’t in the area at the time, despite the CCTV footage. Tom-Deter admitted his role in the theft.
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