Man accused of Kim Kardashian Paris robbery 'regrets' $10m heist

The trial has begun of 10 people who are accused of robbing Kim Kardashian at a Paris hotel in 2016.

The reality TV star and business woman was tied up and held at gunpoint in a luxury suite where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week.

About $10m (£7.5m) worth of jewels were taken from her, including a $4m (£2.9m) diamond engagement from then-husband Kanye West.

In a grand courtroom adorned with 19th Century tapestries, the court was given a fascinating snapshot into the lives of the diverse cast of characters suspected of involvement in the heist.

For the first one up - 71-year-old Yunice Abbas - this was done through a "enquête de personnalité", a sort of background report on a person accused of a crime which French courts regularly include in their trials. These reports take in elements of the defendant's family history, behaviour and work to paint a picture of their lives and help jurors make a decision.

The court heard a long list of crimes that Abbas has been found guilty of in the past - from petty crime and small-time drug trafficking to bank robberies - and retraced his difficult childhood, which was partly spent in Algeria and marked by the deaths of two of his siblings.

Abbas - who has spent almost a third of his life in jail - has already admitted to his role in the heist, and even wrote a memoir entitled I Held Up Kim Kardashian. The president of the court, David De Pas, suggested that the book shows Abbas was proud of what he did - something he has repeatedly denied.

When asked if he had any sympathy for his victims, Abbas said that he never did before the Kardashian heist, "but this time I do regret what I did… It opened my eyes."

Abbas said that while watching television in jail, he was confronted with relentless coverage of the burglary, which made him realise how much Kim Kardashian had suffered.

"We just grabbed the lady's handbag but I have discovered there's trauma behind it," he said.