Sister of X-Factor judge Rita Ora was ‘overwhelmed with fear when she woke to find raider ransacking singer’s bedroom’
Elena describes terrifying moment burglar was just feet away from her
RITA Ora's sister has told a jury she was "overwhelmed with fear" when she woke to find a thief ransacking her bedroom in a £200,000 raid on the singer's home.
The former X Factor judge, 25, and her sister, Elena, were both asleep upstairs when two men broke into the three-storey house in a targeted attack.
Charaf Elmoudden, 26, and an accomplice allegedly made off with jewellery, iPhones, Apple Mac computers, bags and clothes from the star's four-bedroom property in north-west London.
Elena woke up at around 5.50am to find a man rifling through her bedroom, Harrow Crown Court was told.
Giving evidence from behind a screen, she described the moment the intruder "looked dead in my eye" after she confronted him.
"At one point he was an arm's length away which was really scary because it means he was looking at me directly while I was asleep," she added.
"I said hello and was really confused and he turned around and looked at me.
"He looked dead in my eyes.
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"Then I realised I didn't know him, didn't recognise him, and that he was a thief.
"I went to scream 'Oh my God' but couldn't really scream because I became overwhelmed with fear."
The thief grabbed a jewellery box and "whatever else he could" before dashing out of the house, Elena said.
Ora had returned to the semi-detached house she shares with her family at around midnight on November 27 last year and was asleep in her bedroom on the top floor during the raid.
Prosecutor Mark Kinsey said her house was deliberately chosen by the thieves because they knew she lived there.
He added: "That address was targeted because that address was known to contain a large amount of valuable items.
"The property belonged to the recording artist and actress Rita Ora - her and her sister and another lady were present at the time."
He added: "They knew whose address that was and it was targeted."
Elmoudden, of Sydney Road, Muswell Hill, north London, appeared in the dock in custody wearing jeans and a white shirt.
He denies the charge of burglary on November 28 last year.
The trial continues.
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