Kim Kardashian can't sleep at night after robbery hell without huge life change

Traumatised by her 2016 ordeal, Kim Kardashian recently revealed she "can't sleep" without a security team nearby.

“I thought I was going to die.” That’s how Kim Kardashian described the moment masked intruders tied her up, gagged her and held her at gunpoint inside a luxury Paris hotel.

On the night of October 2nd 2016, five men, disguised as police, stormed into her room during Fashion Week, making off with an estimated $10 million worth of jewelry (£7.5m) - including a $4 million diamond ring gifted by Kim’s then-husband Kanye West - and fleeing by bicycle.

But what they left behind was far more lasting: fear, trauma and a permanent scar on the life of one of the world’s most recognisable women.

“It was terrifying and life-changing and I don’t wish that kind of terror on anyone - to think you could be killed or raped - I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy,” Kim told a Paris court last May.

Now, BBC Three delivers a gripping retelling of the heist, featuring never-before-heard witness accounts from friends, police, security experts and journalists in The Kim Kardashian Diamond Heist.

The documentary lays bare the brazen crime, security failures and the devastating emotional aftermath that reshaped Kim’s life - from the incident itself to her confrontation with the men responsible for her trauma.

Nine years after the heist, Kim told the court that “everything changed” after that fateful night. She grew increasingly terrified of going out and said that she employs up to six people to guard her house at night. “I can’t even sleep at night if I know there’s not multiple security,” she said.

In court, Kim faced down ten men accused of planning and carrying out the robbery. Eight of them were ultimately convicted of kidnapping and violent theft, though most received mild sentences due to age or health.

Ringleader Aomar Aït Khedache received an eight-year prison sentence with five-year suspended, while three other defendants - Yunis Abbas, Didier Dubreucq, and Marc-Alexandre Boyer - were sentenced to seven years, also with five years suspended. Due to these suspended sentences, none will serve any time in prison.

Yunis Abbas, 71, wrote a book about the heist in 2021 and had previously served 20 years for burglary. One person was also found guilty on a weapons charge and fined, while two were acquitted.

The Kim Kardashian Diamond Heist also scrutinises serious security lapses - from minimal protection in a high-profile location to the risks of real-time social media. Experts suggest Kim’s lavish Instagram posts may have been a beacon to criminals.

For Kim, it’s time to move forward. “This is my closure and my opportunity to put this to rest after everything I’ve been through,” she told the court, adding that her responsibility was to “tell my truth and hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

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