A burglar has been found guilty of carrying out a raid on the home of Rita Ora while she and her sister slept upstairs. Charaf Elmoudden, 26, and an unknown accomplice stole £200,000 worth of property during the incident, which took place on 28 November last year.
Jewellery, bags, computers and iPhones were among the items stolen in the targeted attack. Rita's sister Elena woke up to find the thief at the end of her bed, raiding her jewellery box, and she told Harrow Crown Court that she was "overwhelmed with fear" as he turned and looked at her "dead in the eyes". She ran into Rita's bedroom, and the singer then called the police.
A man has been found guilty of carrying out a £200,000 raid on Rita Ora's property
Rita, who gave evidence from behind a curtain, said she was woken by a scream and heard her sister running into her room. "She just ran up the stairs, then she jumped on my bed and started screaming," she said.
The star, 25, broke down in tears in the witness box as her panicked 999 call was played to the jury. In it, she told the operator: "Oh my god, I don’t have a knife, I know they are going to come upstairs."
Rita and her sister Elena were home at the time of the burglary
The court heard that Rita's four-bedroom property in north-west London had been deliberately chosen by Mr Elmoudden because he knew she lived there.
Prosecutor Mark Kinsey said of the raid: "That address was a property known to contain a large amount of valuable items because the property belonged at the time and was occupied by recording artist and actress Rita Ora and her sister. They knew whose address it was and that address was targeted."