Two men have been jailed for a knifepoint robbery at the family home of elite cyclist Mark Cavendish.
Romario Henry, 31, of south-east London, and Ali Sesay, 28, of Kent, broke into Mr Cavendish’s home in Ongar, Essex, on 27 November 2021.
Henry, who denied the crime, was found guilty of two counts of robbery last month. Sesay pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
Chelmsford Crown Court sentenced Henry to 15 years in prison and Sesay 12.
The court was told the balaclava-wearing intruders broke into Mr Cavendish’s home and threatened to stab the Olympian, who was recovering from breaking his ribs in a cycling crash at the time.
Mr Cavendish’s wife Peta and children were in the property at the time.
Fighting back tears during the sentencing, Mrs Cavendish said the robbery had “turned a loving family home into a constant reminder of threat and fear”.
Reading her victim personal statement from the witness box, she said the family “could potentially sell the property due to the continuing fear” but in the current economic climate this could cause “considerable loss”.
Mrs Cavendish said she was “in the early stages of pregnancy” when the raid happened and a time when she “should have been happy and excited was then transformed into a period of stress and worry”.
She had told the jury during the trial how she covered her three-year-old child, who was in bed with her, with a duvet so that they could not see what was happening.
Two Richard Mille watches, valued at £400,000 and £300,000, were among the items taken in the raid at about 02:30 GMT.
Judge David Turner, sentencing, said: “This was planned, targeted, orchestrated, ruthless offending aimed at an internationally known sportsman and his wife who happened to be brand ambassadors for exceptionally valuable Richard Mille watches.”
Sesay, of Rainham, Kent, also admitted to six unrelated firearms offences and was sentenced to a further eight years in prison, consecutive to the 12-year jail sentence for the robbery.
Henry, of Bell Green, Lewisham, appeared on trial with co-defendant Oludewa Okorosobo, 28, of Flaxman Road, Camberwell, south London, who was found not guilty.
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