Woman accused of Lampard burglary claims she was only an escort
A ROMANIAN woman accused of assisting with Britain’s biggest ever domestic burglary plot has told jurors she was a “simple escort”, not a thief.
Maria Mester (47) denied having any involvement in the £26m conspiracy, which saw four alleged thieves steal expensive jewellery, property and cash from three celebrity homes in West London during a two-week period last December.
Chelsea FC manager Frank Lampard and his Co Down television presenter wife Christine Lampard were the first household targeted. The pinnacle was a £25m raid on the home of socialite Tamara Ecclestone and her husband Jay Rutland.
The alleged burglars cannot be named for legal reasons, while Mester, her son Emil Bogdan Savastru, and two other men are accused of helping in various ways, rather than carrying out the raids.
The four on trial deny all charges, including conspiracy to burgle, while Mester and Savastru are also charged with money laundering.
Under c r os s - examination from junior prosecutor Paul Jarvis at Isleworth Crown Court yesterday, Mester described herself as a “stupid chicken” compared with the “professional” burglars.
She said she was in London only because she was paid around £5,000 to work as an escort for one of the alleged burglars, staying in an apartment in Orpington, Bromley, where the raiders were said to have been based.
Mr Jarvis asked: “Why would he (the alleged burglar) want an innocent person to spend the week with him at (the apartment)?” Mester replied: “He invited me to be his escort, not to participate (in the burglaries).
“I came here as an escort. I didn’t come here to watch them, I didn’t come here to babysit them. It’s not rocket science. A man who wants to have fun does not entrust an escort with his life, his personal details, his information.”
Mr Jarvis said told Mester she was “more than just an escort”, to which the defendant replied: “No, I was a simple escort, please prove to me I wasn’t.”
The trial continues.
‘I was an escort, I didn’t come to babysit them’