KIM Kardashian’s pal heard the reality star scream as she was held at gunpoint and begged for her life in horror Paris raid.
Simone Harouche, 45, testified at the Palais de Justice in central Paris on Tuesday morning.
Harouche was spotted arriving at the court on Tuesday morning wearing a floor length black coat, accompanied by her lawyer.
The reality star’s stylist was in a nearby room in the hotel when the terrifying raid took place in 2016.
She reportedly locked herself in the bathroom and called Kim’s security guard when she heard screams.
She told the court how Kim begged: “I have babies & I need to live.”
She said: “I think that that moment changed her life for ever.
“I think that it changed for both of us, but particularly for her, her loss of freedom.
“She has a completely different lifestyle.
“In terms of security she can’t go alone, she doesn’t go alone to places any more.
“To lose your sense of freedom is horrible.
“I just want justice to be served.”
Kim Kardashian robbers’ Paris trial
Harouche was the first person Kim ran to after managing to free herself.
She told the court: “I have seen her through the death of family, I have seen her through divorce, through the worst of times, very very difficult times, I have never seen her like this.”
Describing her own journey home, the stylist said: “When I got on the flight I started crying and I cried pretty much the whole plane ride home.”
Harouche is one of Kim’s oldest friends with the pair knowing each other since the age of 11.
Kim, 44, is expected to start giving evidence inside the grand courtroom at 1pm UK time.
The reality star flew into the French capital on Monday on a private jet supported by her mother Kris Jenner and her boyfriend Corey Gamble.
This comes as her lawyers said last week that Kim was finally ready to “confront” her alleged attackers.
French lawyers Leonor Hennerick and Jonathan Mattout said: “She is committed to attending in person.”
They added that she would go in with “dignity and courage“.
The landmark trial has attracted a lot of attention with queues outside the court starting at 6am this morning.
Around 500 foreign media accredited by the French justice system will also be in attendance along with a huge police presence.
What happened to Kim Kardashian?
by Harvey Geh
Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, 2016, marking the biggest robbery of an individual in France for more than 20 years.
At the time the reality icon was in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week with her former husband Kanye West – before the rapper returned to the US to pick up his Saint Pablo tour.
Now left in Paris along with her sister Kourtney and various other entourage members, Kardashian stayed in an exclusive set of apartments so secret they are dubbed the No Address Hotel.
The penthouse suite Kardashian was staying in at the chic Hotel de Pourtalès – which is popular with celebrity A-listers – costs an eye-watering £13,000 per night.
On the evening of October 3, after the star had attended a fashion show with her sister, Kardashian decided to stay in the apartment alone while the rest of her crew – including bodyguard Pascal Duvier – went out for the night.
At around 2:30am, three armed men donning ski masks and dressed as police burst into the apartment block and threatened the concierge at gunpoint.
Two of them are alleged to have forced the concierge to take them to the reality icon’s suite – with the worker later telling police that they yelled: “Where’s the rapper’s wife?”
Kardashian said she was “dozing” on her bed at the time, after uploading social media posts telling viewers that she was home alone, which she believes gave the robbers a “window of opportunity”.
The star said the robbers grabbed her, tied her up with plastic cables and taped her mouth and legs before dropping her in the bathtub.
Before locking her in the bathroom they had held her at gunpoint and demanded specifically for her ring and also money.
Cops said the robbers left the room after seizing the jewels and escaped on bikes – while carrying a haul estimated to be worth about $10million including a $4million 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring from West.
Kardashian said she then managed to free herself from the restraints and rushed to help.
Ten people are on trial for stealing $10million worth of luxury jewels – including Kim’s $4million diamond engagement ring.
Of the ten being tried, five are on trial for armed robbery and kidnap charges while the rest are on for complicity in the heist or possession of a weapon.
French media has dubbed the gang of criminals “Grandpa robbers” because many are in their 60s and 70s with ailing health.
Most have criminal records spanning back decades and have spent much of their adult lives behind bars.
The alleged ringleader of the group, Aomar Ait Khedache, 68, has been questioned but is deaf and mute and had to write his answers down.
He has also reportedly written a letter to Kim from jail apologising for the trauma he caused.
Most of the defendants are expected to receive lengthy jail sentences if found guilty.
The trial is expected to continue until the end of May.
Kim was left fearing for her life during the horror attack after the gang bound her hands and feet, and taped her mouth.
The attackers then carried her to the bathtub wearing only a bathrobe.
And the court has heard that it was likely the dressing gown came undone at some point during the heist and the robbers saw her partially naked.
The reality star has previously spoken of how she thought she was going to be raped and killed during the raid in an emotional interview on US TV.
Kim said: “I was like, ‘Okay, this is the time I’m going to get raped’.”
She added that she that worried for her sister Kourtney, who was out clubbing, and said: “I’m gonna be dead in the room and she’s gonna be traumatised for the rest of her life.”
