Man found guilty of robbing British cycling star Cavendish

A man was found guilty on Monday of robbing British cycling star Mark Cavendish and his wife Peta of their high-value watches in a knifepoint attack at their home.

Intruders wearing balaclavas broke into the property about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of London in the early hours of 27 November 2021, and threatened to stab the athlete, a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court was told.

They took items including two Richard Mille watches with a combined value of 700,000 ($864,000).

Romario Henry, 31, of southeast London, denied the charges but was found guilty on two counts of robbery by a majority verdict of 10 jurors to two, after more than 14 hours of deliberation.

His co-defendant, Oludewa Okorosobo, 28, who gave an address in south London, denied two counts of robbery and was cleared by the jury.

Cavendish jointly owns the record for stage wins at the Tour de France, with 34 victories to his name, and also won an Olympic silver medal on the track at the 2016 Rio Games.

Earlier this month, the 37-year-old rider signed a one-year contract with Astana, which as a World Tour team are slated for the Tour de France in July.