
‘Grandpa robber' admits involvement in Kim Kardashian jewel heist
A retired restaurant-owner alleged to have been the ringleader of an armed robbery of American reality TV star Kim Kardashian in Paris, has told a court he was in part driven by a taste for easy money.
Aomar Aït Khedache, 68, known as 'Old Omar', has admitted to police that he took part in the robbery in which Kardashian was tied up and held hostage at gunpoint in her Paris hotel bedroom during Paris fashion week in 2016. But he has denied the prosecution's accusation that he was the organiser or ringleader of the jewel heist in the early hours of 3 October 2016, which was the biggest robbery of an individual in France in 20 years.
The robbers, dressed as police officers, escaped with up to an estimated $10m (£7.5m) in jewellery, including a 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring given to Kardashian by her then husband, the rapper Kanye West, estimated to be worth $4m.
Aït Khedache is part of a group five men aged over 60 who allegedly went to Kardashian's Paris hotel by bike or on foot for the hold-up, and who French media have nicknamed 'the grandpa robbers'. Like several other accused men, he has serious health problems. He is deaf and cannot speak, so he read the court's questions on a typed transcript, writing his answers with a pen and paper, projected onto a screen.
The court heard that Aït Khedache, who ran restaurants in France and Spain, had served several prison sentences for robbery from the 1970s.
The lead judge, referring to Aït Khedache's past convictions, asked him why he turned to crime. He replied that he did not know, saying it was largely due to keeping bad company. Asked by the judge whether he was driven by a taste for easy money, Aït Khedache wrote: 'Not particularly, but that too.'
The court heard that at the time of the jewel heist, Aït Khedache was already a wanted man, living under a stolen identity in order to escape prison for a drug-trafficking conviction from 2010.
A total of 10 people, aged from 35 to 78, are on trial over their alleged part in the Kardashian robbery. Eight deny involvement.
One of the accused is Aït Khedache's eldest son, Harminy, who is alleged to have been a getaway driver. Harminy Aït Khedache, who had previously worked as an Uber driver, has denied involvement in the robbery. He told police he had been asked by his father to collect him one night in Paris, something he often did, and that he knew nothing of the heist.
The court heard that Aomar Aït Khedache was born in Algeria and arrived in France as a young child. He and his nine siblings were 'paralysed by fear' of their violent father.
The older Aït Khedache was convicted for robbery for the first time 1977, and while he was in prison for 10 months, his pregnant wife died in a fire. Aït Khedache had a psychiatric breakdown over her death and received electric shock therapy, which he said caused the start of his hearing problems. Later he met a woman with a young baby, Harminy. He married her, adopted Harminy, and had another son, Haris.
Harminy Aït Khedache, in his early 40s, broke down in tears in court on Tuesday. He said he had found out from a relative when he was aged six that Aomar wasn't his biological father but had been scared of asking his parents for details for fear of upsetting them. He said he considered Aomar his father and had always wanted to please him. He told the judge that, in general: 'I wanted to show that I'm devoted to him.'
Haris Aït-Khedache, 39, a bus driver, was called as a character witness for his father. He said of his father's role in the robbery: 'He made a mistake. He found himself in a situation where he didn't have the choice, I think.' He said his father had said that the victims 'must have been traumatised' and that he 'regrets the repercussions of this'.
The trial continues.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
More details emerge on ‘gun found in well' during new Madeleine McCann search amid race against time to charge Brueckner
'GUN' CLUE? More details emerge on 'gun found in well' during new Madeleine McCann search amid race against time to charge Brueckner Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE gun found during the search for Madeleine McCann has been revealed as a 6.35 calibre, well-placed sources said today. Further details emerged hours after German prosecutors praised Portuguese police for their work looking around the scrubland in Praia da Luz last week. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz in Portugal 2 Christian Brueckner is the lead suspect in the girl's disappearance The type of gun discovered during the three-day search operation last week near Brueckner's former ramshackle cottage home close to the Algarve resort where Madeleine vanished on May 3 2007, has not yet been revealed. Typically 6.35 calibre guns are small, pocket-sized, semi-automatic pistols used for self-defence or fun target shooting, but can be airguns. Watch The Sun's exclusive documentary on the Maddie case here Portuguese daily Correio da Manha reported yesterday it was unlikely to be a 'lethal weapon' although tests are understood to be ongoing. It has not yet been ruled out as a potential game-changer in the 'race against time' to charge Brueckner over Madeleine's disappearance before he finishes the seven-year prison sentence he is currently serving for the 2005 rape of an American OAP. Another gun said to have been found during last week's searches has been ruled out. It is believed to be more than 50 years old and has been described by Portuguese sources as a 'rusting relic.' The same well-placed sources confirmed yesterday forensic analysis of fragments of bones and adult clothing also unearthed last week would take place at a specialist police lab in Lisbon and not in Germany as initially reported. No samples of any kind have been sent back to Germany despite reports to the contrary, the insiders said. German forensic officers have been offered the opportunity of being present at the tests, although it was unclear today if they had accepted the invite. They were shown some of the bones that were unearthed, thought to be animal bones, in a video-conferencing session but are said to have been 'unable to come to any real conclusions about exactly what they were' via the screen. German prosecutors said yesterday in their only official statement so far since wells, ruins and water tanks across a 120-acre area in Atalaia between the Algarve towns of Praia and Luz and Lagos were inspected: 'The search operation conducted in Portugal last week has been completed as planned. 'No information can be provided at this time regarding the results of the investigation. 'Our sincere thanks go to all police officers involved in the search. 'The co-operation between the Portuguese police and the Federal Criminal Police Office was excellent and very constructive. 'We don't want to say anymore at the moment.'


The Herald Scotland
4 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
ICE enforcement in LA triggers alarm among school communities
"We are a melting pot of beautiful, incredible people," Enriquez said to the crowd before wiping a tear from his eye. "This incredible community, all of these students, all of these parents, guardians, friends and family, it is because of you that these young people are here ready to go on to that next step - to that high school life, to represent each of us as an incredible member of society." Some families too afraid to attend the graduation out of fear of increased presence of immigration enforcement officials across the city didn't hear the principal's message. They and many other Angeleno immigrants who live in the sanctuary city are foregoing the chance to witness their young loved ones receive diplomas or advance to the next grade at upcoming school graduation ceremonies out of fear of getting deported. "I've spoken with parents who've told me that their daughter would be the first in their family to graduate high school and they're not going to be there to witness it, because they have a fear of the place of graduation being targeted," said Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, which covers the majority of the city and some surrounding areas of Los Angeles and serves more than a half of a million public school students, during a June 9 news conference. More than one-third of Angelenos are immigrants. ICE detained a Los Angeles fourth grader from Torrance Elementary School and his father in Texas on May 29. They are expected to be deported to Honduras. The young child's deportation has left a wound. "When something like this happens, it shakes all of us in the community," Torrance Elementary PTA volunteer Ria Villanueva told The Los Angeles Times. Homeland security agents attemped to enter two Los Angeles schools in early April, but they were denied entry. Arrests of young people by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are happening nationwide in other targeted American communities, such as Milford, Massachusetts, where an 11th grader's arrest and detention by ICE has heightened anxiety among the area's immigrants, and in New York City, where educations officials say ICE have recently arrested and detained two students. "President Trump is keeping his promise to deport illegal aliens and the law enforcement officers conducting operations do so efficiently and professionally," said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, in response to a question from USA TODAY about the Trump administration's enforcement on immigration at and around schools. "Individuals, like the violent rioters in LA, who try to obstruct or deter operations put law enforcement officers and law abiding citizens at risk." The Trump administration's increased immigration enforcement and related protests around LA Unified schools over the last several weeks have put parents, students and school officials on especially high alert. After law enforcement officers deployed flash-bang grenades against protesters near a Los Angeles Unified elementary school campus, the school community went into lockdown on June 6. The tensions have left the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest district in the nation, at the center of the national battle on immigration deportations and family separations. Ahead of future graduation ceremonies in the district, Carvalho said he said he has directed Los Angeles Unified school police to stand at the front lines and "intervene and interfere with any federal agency who may want to take action during these joyous times that we call graduation." What's happening around Los Angeles Unified schools? The Los Angeles families' anxieties come after a series of Trump administration-led anti-immigrant actions in the city, making it a national battleground for President Donald Trump's long-promised crackdown on illegal immigration. President Donald Trump and his administration have deployed thousands of National Guard members to the nation's second-largest city since June 8. The National Guard entered Los Angeles after citizens who were angry about immigration raids in the city, including one at a Home Depot, launched largely peaceful demonstrations against the administration's enforcement of illegal immigration. How did the LA protests begin? A look at the immigration raids that sparked outrage Chaos and violence have since erupted across Los Angeles, resulting in the detainment of some immigrants, destruction of city property and fear and hiding among immigrant families and children of immigrants who attend school across the region. 'President Trump is keeping his promise' California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vehemently objected against the immigration raids and deployment of federal guards, even filing a lawsuit against Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth alleging they deployed "members of the California National Guard, without lawful authority, and in violation of the Constitution." "Instead of focusing on undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records and people with final deportation orders - a strategy both parties have long supported - this administration is pushing mass deportations - indiscriminately targeting hardworking, immigrant families regardless of their roots or risk, " Newsom, a Democrat, said in a video posted on Instagram. There's no sign that the immigration raids will end. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on X on June 9 that they will deploy about 700 active duty U.S. Marines to Los Angeles "to restore order." Trump has also threatened to arrest Newsom for challenging the federal government. 700 Marines Heading to LA; Newsom calls move 'deranged fantasy' of Trump Federal immigration activity near school campuses threatens a 'fundamental right' A third-grade elementary school teacher in the district, who asked to remain anonymous because she is worried that her school and her students will be targeted by immigration enforcement officials if she is identified, said she has felt deep fear and constant anxiety in her students about them or their families being detained by ICE officials. She said many kids in her classroom whose parents are undocumented immigrants, some of whom are newcomers from Guatemala, are worried about being deported or separated from their families. Their fears have intensified since immigration raids have occurred close to the school. Attendance was unusually low and many school bus stops were eerily quiet during the last two days of school in her classroom on June 9 and 10, she said. "I try to pretend everything's normal when everything's falling apart outside of the school," she said. Her six-year-old son, who attends the same school where she teaches, found about about the immigration raids through friends and told her, "Mom, I'm glad you have papers so they can't take you." Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Carvlaho said in a statement on June 6 that he is "dismayed" by the recent immigration enforcement activity occurring near district schools. "These actions are causing unnecessary fear, confusion, and trauma for our students and families - many of whom are simply trying to get to and from school and work, and to live with dignity," Carvalho said. The presence of federal immigration activity near school campuses threatens prevents schools from being a "safe haven" where students "can learn, grow, and thrive without fear of being separated from their loved ones," he said. California State Superintendent of Education Tony Thurmond called Trump's military deployment and mass immigration raids "unnecessary," "a betrayal of our American values" and "an assault on all Californians" in a statement on June 9. Thurmond said about half of California kids have at least one immigrant parent. "Innocent children should never be in handcuffs, and families should never be torn apart by our government. Our children deserve to be protected and cared for, not terrified at school or ripped from their families," Thurmond said. "Let's be clear: When the President targets our immigrant families, he harms California's children." California State Superintendent: 'Deeply dangerous for our children' California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Thurmond have called on Trump to end the mass immigration raids and pull back National Guard troops from Los Angeles for the safety of Los Angeles families. "My message to President Trump is very clear: keep your hands off California's kids," Thurmond said on June 9. "The President's unchecked, unnecessary deployment of our nation's military to the city of Los Angeles is deeply dangerous for our children, for our families, and for our country." The officials' sentiments haven't calmed the widespread fear among many of the city's vast immigrant communities. Britt Vaughan, a spokesperson for Los Angeles Unified school district, said that parents and community members have been anxiously calleing into schools to report federal immigration activity in their communities. Enriquez, from Palms Middle School, told students and their families at the commencement ceremony to use the momentum of graduation as an opportunity to stand up to what he called "injustice" against their community. "Be empowered. Injustices exist in the world," he said. "Speak up. Stand up against any injustice anywhere." Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@ Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.


Evening Standard
11 hours ago
- Evening Standard
Napoleonic prisoner of war camp buried under field bought from farmer
Located near Peterborough, it contains the remains of around 1,770 French, Dutch and German soldiers captured in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars fought between the French and other European nations.