Mark Cavendish was repeatedly punched and had a large black knife held to his throat when intruders broke into his £700,000 home, his wife has told a robbery trial.
The Olympic cyclist, 37, was asleep alongside his wife Peta when balaclava-clad burglars broke into his home in the Ongar area of Essex on November 27, 2021.
They are accused of stealing a number of items during the break-in, including two Richard Mille watches valued at £400,000 and £300,000. Prosecutors also say they took two phones, a suitcase and a safe.
Romario Henry, 31, and Oludewa Okorosobo, 28, are currently standing trial at Chelmsford Crown Court charged with two counts of robbery.
A court artist sketch of Peta Cavendish (left) giving evidence, watched by Judge David Turner (right), at Chelmsford Crown Court today
The Olympic cyclist, 37, was asleep alongside his wife Peta (pictured together) when balaclava-clad burglars broke into his home
Giving evidence today, Peta Cavendish told jurors that she ‘heard a noise that woke me’ during the night before going downstairs to investigate, adding that she was ‘naked’ at the time.
Wearing a black jumper and blazer with her dark hair in a ponytail, she said she had gone to bed with her husband at 11.30pm, but added: ‘As I got a few steps down the stairs I could hear men speaking but it was still dark.’
Mrs Cavendish recalled seeing ‘men’s figures in in balaclavas’ that began ‘running towards the bottom of the stairs’.
She said: ‘I know there were between three and five, I know there were more than a couple but I wouldn’t have been able to say exactly how many (people there were).’
Edward Renvoize, prosecuting, asked her how she felt when she saw the men in balaclavas.
Mrs Cavendish said it was ‘everyone’s worst nightmare’, adding that she ran up the stairs ‘as quickly as I could and I shouted something like “get back” or “get in” to Mark’.
She then told of how one of the intruders ‘dragged’ Cavendish ‘from his feet and started punching him’.
She continued: ‘One of the men then had him in a headlock. One of them held a large black knife to his throat and they said “where’s the watches” and “do you want me to stab you?”.’
Mrs Cavendish also agreed with Mr Renvoize that it appeared to be a Rambo-style knife.
She added: ‘They were very specific about a watch. I tried to explain that actually we were broken into a couple of years previously, everything has been taken.’
Her husband then showed the intruders where the safe was, the court heard.
Mrs Cavendish went on: ‘It had a battery-operated PIN, there was nothing in it, it wasn’t being used so the battery had gone dead.
CCTV issued by Essex Police of one of the watches stolen by armed intruders during the break-in
Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish (pictured competing in the Tour de Pologne in Poland last year) cut his feet on smashed glass following the break-in
The court heard that the intruders also took Mrs Cavendish’s £300,000 Richard Mille watch that had been on her bedside table
‘It was becoming more frantic as they weren’t getting what they wanted. They kept saying “there must be cash, there must be jewellery.”‘
She said that her husband had been ‘out of hospital for four days maybe’ at the time following a cycling crash which left him with three broken ribs and a tear to his left lung.
The court heard that the intruders took her phone, which had fallen from a bedside counter into an open drawer, but was spotted by one of the men.
Mrs Cavendish said: ‘The man on the landing that I wasn’t aware of shouted “she’s got her phone, she’s got her phone”.
‘One of the individuals said “give me the phone, did you call the police?”‘
She said she subsequently threw her phone to the end of the bed.
The intruders are also alleged to have stolen a £400,000 Richard Mille watch that ‘Mark raced in’, that had a blue strap and had been sat on a windowsill.
Mrs Cavendish said: ‘At first it wasn’t picked up but they did take it.’
She added that they also took her £300,000 Richard Mille watch that had been on her bedside table.
The court heard that the men turned the bedroom ‘upside down’ and that when they left, Cavendish pressed a panic alarm to alert a private security firm and the police.
She said when she went downstairs she saw that a patio door was smashed and that her husband had cut his feet on the smashed glass.
Mark Cavendish celebrates after winning the Men’s Elite race in Castle Douglas during the 2022 British National Road Championships road race
Peta Cavendish previously recalled one of the intruders coming into the bedroom with a Louis Vuitton suitcase, the prosecutor said (stock image)
Mrs Cavendish told the court that the intruders did not take her engagement ring or wedding ring or a necklace, though they had said ‘show me your wrists, as if maybe I was wearing a watch’.
She said the intruders wore ‘darkish clothing, tracksuits probably and gloves’.
She added: ‘Definitely one of them that had the knife, one that took my phone was definitely black. Definitely one of them was definitely white.
‘I think the other was white I think the person on the landing was black.’
She agreed with Shahid Rashid, representing Okorosobo, that the situation was ‘hectic’ and ‘frantic’.
Cycling star Cavendish also gave evidence in the trial today, recalling how he woke to the sound of voices.
Wearing a blue jumper and white collared shirt, he said: ‘I got up to follow her out (of the bedroom) and as I was stepping out of the room is when she started to come back up (the stairs).
‘She shouted “get in”. There were figures really close behind her.’
He said he had tried to press a panic alarm, but did not manage to do so in the dark, and he was jumped on by an intruder who started to punch him in the head.
Cavendish added: ‘One held me and another pulled out a knife and just held it in my face. It wasn’t a knife you have in a kitchen.
‘It was black and had holes in it. It was a weapon.’
Cavendish explained that he is a brand ambassador for Richard Mille watches and is sometimes loaned timepieces to wear.
Mr Renvoize said that there is a photograph of Cavendish at the GQ Awards wearing a Richard Mille watch that he had been loaned, and is not one of the two that were taken, that was ‘partially covered’ by his sleeve.
The prosecutor added that there ‘probably would have been red carpet photographers’ at the event, to which Cavendish replied: ‘Correct.’
Asked whether his watch that was stolen was a one-off, Cavendish replied that it was ‘one of four or five at the time, it wasn’t available to the public’.
Henry, 31, of Lewisham in south east London and Okorosobo, of Camberwell in south London, both deny two counts of robbery.
Ali Sesay, 28, of Holding Street, Rainham, Kent, admitted two counts of robbery at an earlier hearing.
The trial has been told that his DNA was found on the phone of Peta Cavendish, which was taken and found outside the property.
Two further men, Jo Jobson and George Goddard, have been named as suspects in the case but have not been apprehended by police.
The trial continues.
