Kim Kardashian’s stylist Simone Harouche has told a courtroom she heard the star screaming in a nearby room the night the influencer was bound and gagged in a Paris apartment during a $10m jewellery heist.
The LA based stylist told the Palais de Justice in Paris on Tuesday morning she was sleeping downstairs from Kardashian and was woken by a “sound that I had never heard from Kim. It was terror.”
“What I heard specifically was ‘I have babies and I need to live, take everything, I need to live,” Ms Harouche said.
"She came into my room and she had tape around her... I thought she could have been raped or very violated.”
All eyes will be on Kim Kardashian when she steps into the witness box later on Tuesday to give evidence in the trial of ten people accused of violently robbing her in 2016.
The Californian media personality was left traumatised after she was tied up and gagged by a gang of burglars, as they stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery from the central Paris apartment where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week.
Eight of the ten defendants - who face charges including armed robbery, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy - deny any involvement in the case. The case has been dubbed the “grandpa robbers” trial due to five of them being pensioners.
The Independent will bring you live updates from inside the courtroom.
Key Points
- Kardashian's stylist recalls moments after robbery: 'I thought she had been raped'
- Kim Kardashian to give evidence in Paris robbery trial
- What has the trial heard so far?
- The ‘grandpa gang’ in court accused of $10m robbery
- How did the heist unfold?
Harouche: Kim was 'very free' at the time of the robbery
09:50
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from court:
“Kim was very free at the time," Harouche, who is dressed in a black jacket and has shoulder-length blonde hair and speaks to the court via a translator, explains. "And we never thought being in our hotel room that we should ever fear for our safety."
She responds to a question from the chief judge, or Monsieur le President, who leads today's proceedings: “Just because a woman wears jewellery, doesn’t make her a target. That’s like saying just because a woman wears a short skirt that she deserves to be raped.”
In pictures: Defendants and lawyers arriving in court on Tuesday morning
09:46
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Alex Croft
Harouche: 'It was like Kim was not in her body'
09:33
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from court:
Harouche and Kardashian found safety and waited for Kardashian's bodyguard, Pascal.
"It felt like a long time we were there, but maybe it was only a couple of minutes before Pascal arrived.
"Then he arrived and we felt OK” - she taps her hand over her heart – “that we could be OK.”
“I can say that it was like Kim was not in her body. You know, when you’re in so much shock from trauma? I was still very afraid because I still didn’t know who the men were. And then a couple of hours after that the police then arrived."
Police didn't take an account from Harouche at the time, she explains. "I was confused as to why they didn’t want more of a statement from me at the time. There was a lot happening from the apartment and the police were more focused on what happened to Kim."
Harouche "just wanted to go home".
Harouche: She came into my room taped up - I thought she could have been raped
09:24
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the courthouse:
Simone Harouche has recalled texting Kourtney Kardashian to say that "something was very wrong" after hearing a soung of “terror” from Kim.
"A couple of minutes went by, I was still hearing things upstairs," she tells the court. "Then I heard the footsteps coming down the stairs. I thought that they were coming for me next.
“I was very afraid for what was happening to me friend upstairs. I had no idea what was going on and I was scared that she was raped or violated. I thought the worst."
The noises stopped. "I thought maybe they had gone. Then I heard Kim screaming. She was saying my name, and ‘are they gone?’
"I heard her coming down the stairs, but like hopping down the stairs.
"She came into my room and she had tape around her. She was wearing a light robe with nothing underneath, it was all messed up. I thought she could have been raped or very violated."
I heard a sound of terror I had never heard from Kim, says star's friend
09:18
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the courthouse:
Simone Harouche has taken the stand. She's a fashion stylist from Los Angeles hired by Kim Kardashian for Paris fashion week that year. Not only has she worked with Kim, she tells the court, she's also been friends with Kim for a long time.
"That's to say I know her very well. I know her sounds, I know her mannerisms; I know when she's happy and more serious," she says. "We've been friends since we were little girls."
"Thank you for allowing me to come here today and speak my piece," she begins.
The pair had been attending fashion shows all day of the robbery.
"Kim said that she was going to possibly have dinner, a few friends were maybe going to come over.
“I was in and out of my room packing, and then finally around 11.30pm I went to my room to bed.
"I was in bed at the time I had heard a couple of friends come over, they were in the room next to me. I went back to sleep. It was normal background noise.
"It was quiet for an hour or two. Then I woke up to a very different sound."
When she woke up, she heard a “sound that I had never heard from Kim. It was terror.”
“What I heard specifically was ‘I have babies and I need to live, take everything, I need to live.’”
Inside the courtroom: Media gathers inside grand walls of Palais de Justice
09:03
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Alex Croft
Special correspondent Zoe Beaty reports from inside the courtroom:
We’re now inside the Palais de Justice, where a thick line of camera-heavy broadcast media has set up behind red tape under the stone-carved arched hallways outside court Voltaire, where the trial is taking place.
The Court D’Appel’s inners are grand. The testimonies are heard below impossibly high ceilings adorned with gilded Neoclassical paintings and carvings; in the press transmission room enormous brass chandeliers hang over around 20 journalists from all over the world.
While there’s no real indication of exactly when Kim Kardashian will appear in court to give evidence today, court is due to sit at 10am. A member of the public who has attended a few days of the trial so far says that it could be a long shift – previous days, she says, have begun at 9am and sat until 8pm.
What has the trial heard so far?
08:56
,
Alex Croft
The trial of ten people alleged to have robbed Kim Kardashian has been ongoing since late April, when a number of defendants took the stand.
Jurors have heard how police tracked down Aomar Ait Khedache - believed to be the ringleader of the group, which is mostly composed of older men - after he had left DNA on a piece of duct tape and the cable ties used to bind Ms Kardashian.
Mr Khedache admitted taking part in the heist, but denied playing a leading role.
It heard of the mistakes which were made by the robbers throughout the heist, including Yunice Abbas, who has admitted his role in the robbery, allegedly dropping a bag of jewellery after he fell while cycling from the scene.
A necklace was left behind, which was found and reported to police. It was the only one of the stolen items that was ever found.
Jurors were also told that the Madar family, including suspect Gary Madar, had worked with the Kardashian family for years. Ms Kardashian suggested Gary Madar may have fed information to the gang which assisted the robbery.
Crowds of media gather inside courthouse
08:38
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Alex Croft
Watch live: Kim Kardashian arrives in court to testify in Paris robbery trial
08:29
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Alex Croft
Watch live as Kim Kardashian arrives in court on Tuesday (13 May) to testify in the trial of ten people accused of violently robbing her in 2016.
The Californian media personality was left traumatised after she was tied up and gagged by a gang of burglars, as they stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery from the central Paris apartment where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week.
Eight of the ten defendants - who face charges including armed robbery, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy - deny any involvement in the case. The can has been dubbed the “grandpa robbers” trial due to five of them being pensioners.
Ms Kardashian will now testify over the ordeal, which she has spoken about openly in the past nine years.
Watch a live feed of the French courthouse here:
Outside the courthouse: anticipation builds ahead of Kardashian's appearance
08:10
,
Zoe Beaty
The queues of journalists eager to secure a coveted spot in the courtroom has been forming since around 6am, when I arrived at the Palais de Justice this morning.
For the last couple of hours there's been a lot of chatter, and a lot of hushed anticipation but the only real action has been the frequent dashes to the coffee shop across the road.
The entrance for foreign press, I'm told, is also where for the last two days, the defendants have entered the court building.
There are 10 accused in total, mostly elderly men, who, despite the serious crimes they're accused of - and prolific criminal records - remain at liberty.
It's true: as the line inches towards security at around 8.45am, one of the defendants, Christiane ‘Cathy’ Glotin, 79, the only woman facing prosecution, casually strolls past.
She's a small, almost unnoticeable figure today dressed in blue jeans and a matching denim jacket, trainers and a surgical mask, presumably to conceal her identity.
Kim Kardashian to testify in Paris armed robbery trial - what we know about $10m heist so far
08:00
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian will testify in person on Tuesday at the trial of her alleged armed robbers who are accused of stealing millions of dollars worth of her jewellery.
Here’s all you need to know so far:
Kardashian: I feel like a robot after 2016 robbery
07:01
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Alex Croft
Speaking openly since the horror episode, Kardashian believes that the Paris robbery made fundamental changes to her personality and her approach to the world.
She fears she is turning into a “full robot with like, no emotion,” she said in an episode of the reality show last year.
“[My therapist] was like, ‘You think calm is your superpower. I think you are so desensitised from trauma that you literally are frozen in fight or flight,’” she said. “So then she was like, ‘One time in life something happened, and you remained calm, and that worked for you. So you will always choose calm.’”
How the robbery was a wake-up call for Kardashian
06:01
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian, once mocked by some of the French press as a reality TV sideshow, is now at the centre of a case with deep cultural resonance.
The robbery forced her to consider how she lived, posted and protected herself. Her brand had been built on access, her life broadcast to millions. But that strategy had collapsed.
"I learned to be more private," she later said. "It's not worth the risk."
Ms Kardashian enhanced her security detail by hiring people with backgrounds in elite protective services, reportedly including former members of the U.S. Secret Service and CIA. She stopped posting her location in real time. Lavish gifts and jewelry all but vanished from her feed.
"I was definitely materialistic before — but I'm so happy that my kids get this me," she reflected on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2017.
Later, Kardashian acknowledged that constant sharing had made her a target.
"People were watching," she said. "They knew what I had. They knew where I was."
Defendants pictured in court sketch
05:00
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Alex Croft
The Paris robbery of Kim Kardashian changed how celebrities think about exposure
04:01
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Alex Croft
The ring gleamed in Instagram posts. So did the diamond necklace and the luxury Paris address. For Kim Kardashian, sharing online was second nature, an extension of her fame. But in the early hours of Oct. 3, 2016, that openness was turned against her.
Five masked men posing as police officers stormed the residence where she was staying during Fashion Week. They bound her with duct tape and plastic cable ties, locked her in the bathroom and fled with an estimated $6 million in stolen jewelry.
The robbery sent shock waves far beyond Paris. It was the latest moment when celebrity exposure — fueled by social media updates and glamour on display — collided with real-world risk.
Read the full report:
What was stolen from Kim Kardashian?
03:00
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Alex Croft
In police reports given to the French authorities at around 4:30am on the night of the robbery, Kim Kardashian listed the following items as having been stolen, according to Sky News:
What was stolen?
- Two diamond Cartier bracelets
- A gold and diamond Jacob necklace
- Diamond earrings by Lauren Schwartz
- Yanina earrings
- Three gold Jacob necklaces
- Little bracelets, jewels and rings
- A Lauren Schwartz diamond necklace
- A necklace with six little diamonds
- A necklace with Saint spelt out in diamonds
- A cross-shaped diamond-encrusted Jacob cross
- A yellow gold Rolex watch
- Two yellow gold rings
- An iPhone 6 and a BlackBerry
'I have regrets', says Yunice Abbas
02:00
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Alex Croft
Yunice Abbas, who has admitted his part in the robbery and even wrote a memoir about it, told the court early on during the case of his “regrets”.
The 71-year-old told the court he had never spared a thought for the victims of his lifelong criminal activities, until hearing how Kim Kardashian had been traumatised by the 2016 robbery.
"This time I have regrets," he told the court according to the BBC. "Before I didn't… It opened my eyes. We just grabbed the lady's handbag, but I have discovered there's trauma behind it."
Watch: Kim Kardashian says she experienced agoraphobia during quarantine and after Paris robbery
01:00
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Alex Croft
How the police investigation finally reached a breakthrough
Tuesday 13 May 2025 00:01
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Alex Croft
Surveillance footage helped French police reconstruct the timeline of the robbery, but the breakthrough came from a trace of DNA left on the plastic ties used to bind Kardashian.
It matched Aomar Aït Khedache, a veteran criminal whose DNA was in the national database. Phone taps and surveillance led police to others, including Yunice Abbas and Didier Dubreucq, known as "Yeux bleus." Most of the accused have long criminal records.
Abbas later claimed he was unaware of Kardashian's identity during the heist.
But investigators say the men acted with detailed planning and discipline. Prepaid phones were activated the day before the heist and abandoned immediately afterward. But in the end, it wasn't enough.
Marc Boyer, 78, denies wrongdoing
Monday 12 May 2025 23:01
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Alex Croft
In one of the early days of the trial in late April, 78-year-old Marc Boyer took the stand.
He is accused of obtaining a weapon - the gun used in the heist - without authorisation. Boyer denies all charges.
Marc-Alexandre, his son, is also accused of taking part in the heist, with police believing he took a more central role in the burglary.
Court documents show that police believe he stayed downstairs in the hotel while the robbery was carried out in the upstairs apartment, according to the BBC.
Boyer, who says he has spent around 17 years of his life in jail, told the court of a life defined by petty crime in which he was surrounded by “crooks”.
He expressed his regret about letting his son grow up in an environment which he feels set him on the wrong path in life.
Kim Kardashian robbery: A crime enabled by visibility
Monday 12 May 2025 22:01
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Alex Croft
What made the robbery extraordinary was not just its high-profile victim but how investigators believe she was targeted. Kardashian had posted real-time updates from her hotel suite. She showed off a 20-carat diamond ring, gifted by her then-husband Kanye West, hours before it was stripped from her hand.
The attackers used no digital trackers or hacking tools. Instead, investigators believe they followed Kardashian’s digital breadcrumbs — images, timestamps, geotags — and exploited them with old-school criminal methods.
It was, some suggested at the time, a blueprint built from her own broadcast.
The men dressed as police, spoke only French and overpowered the concierge, who was forced to act as a translator during the break-in.
“I thought it was terrorists,” Kardashian later told a French magistrate in 2017. “That they were going to kill me.”
In pictures: Defendants arrive in court on the first day
Monday 12 May 2025 21:00
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Alex Croft
On the ground: Calm before the storm at the Palais de Justice
Monday 12 May 2025 20:01
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Alex Croft
Special correspondent Zoë Beaty reports:
It's the calm before the storm at the Palais de Justice, where the Rue Tronchet trial is ongoing.
Outside, other than a couple of police vans casually parked up, it's business as usual - tourists queue for guides tours of the historic building where Kim Kardashian will appear to give evidence tomorrow; locals make their way home from another day at the office.
Inside the majestic court building - which dates as far back as the 10th century, and became entirely dedicated to the French justice system in the first half of the 19th century - stirrings of what awaits tomorrow are visible. Already a few small pools of keen reporters are getting their bearings, setting up cameras in preparation. At the makeshift desk by the courtroom, scores upon scores of press cards are sat waiting to be collected in the morning. Unsurprisingly, staff are "stressed". Perhaps even less surprisingly, I'm warned there'll be quite a queue to get a glimpse of Kardashian taking the stand in the morning.
Until then, we wait...
Robbery suspects speak in early days of trial
Monday 12 May 2025 19:00
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Alex Croft
A number of people allegedly involved in the robbery have taken the stand in the case so far.
Among them is Yunice Abbas, the 71-year-old who has already admitted in media interviews his role in the robbery. He told the court of his “regrets” after the robbery.
Marc Boyer, 78, denied supplying the gun used in the robbery on the second day of the court case. His son, Marc-Alexandre, is also accused of playing a role in the heist.
"I have a failed life, that's all I can tell you, Mr. President," said Boyer, according to Le Monde. "Well, failed for my children,"
Aomar Ait Khedache, the suspected ringleader of the group, also admitted to having taken part in the heist and tying up Ms Kardashian but denied leading it. Because he is nearly deaf and mute, lawyers had to take up his questions and he had to write down his answers, according to NewsNation.
Didier Dubreucq, 69, also known as "Blue Eyes”, was accused of playing a direct role in the heist - and being one of the two men who held Kim Kardashian at gunpoint in her room. He denied the charges during the second day in court.
With tears in his eyes Mr Dubreucq spoke of his past as a criminal, telling the court according to Le Monde: "I told my son, 'I hope you don't become like your father.' And I'm keeping a close watch."
How did the heist unfold?
Monday 12 May 2025 18:00
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Alex Croft
It was on 3 October 2016 when Kardashian was lying in the bed of the luxury apartment in central Paris, that she heard footsteps pounding up the stairs. After calling out, and hearing no response, she knew something “wasn’t quite right”, she recalled in an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians months after the crime.
Two men in police uniforms had handcuffed the concierge and forced him to let them into her apartment. “What I've heard from talking to him afterward is they said, you know, ‘Where’s the rapper’s wife? Let us up to her room!’ in French,” Kardashian recalled. “He ended up being our interpreter because I couldn't understand them, they couldn’t understand me.”
When she was dragged to the hallway at the top of the stairs, Kardashian said she saw that the pair were armed – and began to fear the worst.
“He pulled me toward him at the front of the bed and I thought, ‘OK, this is the moment they're going to rape me,’” she said. “I fully mentally prepped myself – and then he didn’t.”
The robber put duct tape round her legs and a gun to her head. She said: “I just knew that was the moment. They’re just totally going to shoot me in the head. I just prayed that Kourtney’s going to have a normal life after she sees my dead body on the bed.”
Kardashian told investigators she was taken to a bathroom and placed in the bathtub. Her attackers fled on bicycles or on foot, and she freed herself by removing the tape.
Kim Kardashian Paris trial: The ‘grandpa gang’ in court accused of $10m robbery
Monday 12 May 2025 17:30
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Alex Croft
Bound, gagged, and locked in the bathroom of a luxurious apartment in central Paris, Kim Kardashian feared death as five masked thugs stole millions of dollars worth of her jewellery.
In a case which would leave the Californian media personality and businesswoman traumatised for years onwards, a gang of robbers rampaged through the apartment on 3 October 2016, where she was alone while her bodyguard was out with her sister, Kourtney.
Ten people, including five male pensioners dubbed the ‘Grandpa robbers’, will now face trial nearly nine years after the crime, which took place as Kardashian, then 35, visited the French capital for its 2016 Fashion Week.
The defendants face charges including armed robbery, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy. Eight of the 10 deny any involvement in the case, which is seen as France’s biggest robbery of an individual person, with the value of stolen jewellery reported at nearly $10m – including an 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring gifted by former husband Kanye West worth $4m.
Read the full story of the violent 2016 robbery and its long journey to the courts:
Kim Kardashian to give evidence in Paris robbery trial
Monday 12 May 2025 15:32
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Alex Croft
Global media star Kim Kardashian will give evidence on Tuesday, as part of a high-profile trial concerning the violent robbery of $10 million worth of her jewellery.
Ms Kardashian was robbed in a Paris apartment in 2016 during a visit to the French capital’s Fashion Week. She was alone after her bodyguard had left the apartment with her sister, Kourtney.
Ten people have been facing a trial since late April, eight of whom deny involvement in the robbery.
We’ll bring you all the latest here when Kim Kardashian takes the stand tomorrow.