Violinist who faked break-in to feed her coke habit
A VIOLINIST who performed for the Queen stole designer watches and other valuables worth £25,000 in a fake burglary to fund her cocaine addiction, a court heard.
Victoria Yellop, who played solo during Golden Jubilee celebrations, helped her boyfriend ransack a friend’s flat she was meant to be looking after.
The classically-trained virtuoso told police she had returned from a night out to discover the flat had been burgled.
Her fictitious story soon unravelled when neighbours told police that the musician was in the property when the goods were loaded into a vehicle.
Yellop, 34, admitted theft, perverting the course of justice and being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug at a hearing on Friday. But she was spared jail by a judge who said he would ‘ temper justice with mercy’ after hearing she had been ‘ coerced and dominated’ by her violent boyfriend Mark James.
She had been snorting cocaine since the age of 14, when she was at a private girls’ school, the court was told.
Yellop had been asked by her actor friend Wayne Taylor, 41, to look after his flat in Tonbridge, Kent, while he was working in Paris in September 2015.
While he was away, Yellop and her boyfriend stole up to 80 pairs of unused designer shoes, more than 40 designer baseball caps, two Tag Heuer watches, a Rolex and an Armani watch.
Bottles of vintage Champagne, several pairs of sunglasses, two guitars, an expensive microphone, designer aftershaves and £3,000 in cash were also taken.The front door and a window were smashed to give the appearance that the flat had been burgled by strangers.
Police searched the home Yellop shared with James, in Langton Green, near Tunbridge Wells, and found cash, watches, electrical equipment and cocaine worth £1,000. Officers also found much of Mr Taylor’s stolen belongings in a storage unit hired by Yellop in Flimwell, East Sussex. They also discovered a safe containing cocaine, a cutting agent and scales.
Judge Philip Statman told Maidstone Crown Court that the appropriate sentence was a twoyear jail sentence.
However, he said that the sentence should be suspended because she is a ‘ vulnerable woman’. The judge also ordered her to serve a two-year community order and undergo 25 days of rehabilitation.
He told Yellop she was a highly talented professional from a strong and supportive family who had been given every advantage.
But the judge said he accepted her boyfriend had ‘controlled and dominated’ her.
‘As a result, you were physically beaten, your mental health suffered, that your use of cocaine, although started earlier in life, developed and that this all led to you committing these offences,’ he said. ‘You were at the time, and remain, despite your high level of intelligence and your gifted ability as a violinist, a vulnerable woman.’
Yellop, who now lives in Hildenborough, Kent, attended a private school before winning a place at the prestigious Trinity College of Music in London. She has performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, violinist Vanessa Mae, and singer Will Young. The violinist performed a solo for the Queen at Windsor during the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002. It was watched by 70,000 guests as well as millions of TV viewers.
She has performed at charity fundraising events and was an ambassador for the Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy.
Yellop’s barrister Tom Stern told the court she suffered a ‘high order of control and coercion’ during her three-year relationship with James, and was often covered in bruises.
James, 37, also known as Benjamin Goodyer, was jailed for five years last year after admitting theft, assault causing actual bodily harm, possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and grievous bodily harm.
While on bail, he attacked Mr Taylor with a baseball bat in an attempt to silence him.
He even drove over his victim’s feet with his car and used the bat to fracture his eye socket and nose. James threatened to hurt Mr Taylor’s family if he went to police.