COWELL: I’VE GOT A BASEBALL BAT FOR BURGLARS
TV mogul beefs up security with baseball bat
SIMON COWELL keeps a baseball bat at home to fight off burglars as part of his £500,000 security makeover.
The media mogul has splashed out on a panic room and CCTV at his pad following a “terrifying” burglary last year.
Other measures include light and heat motion sensors, security guards, electronic fences and alarms.
The X Factor king, 57, said: “My house basically looks like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
In December, burglar Darren February was jailed for eight years for raiding the £35million home.
Cowell, his partner Lauren Silverman, 39, and their baby son Eric were asleep inside at the time.
The crook escaped with almost £1m worth of jewellery and two passports.
Any future raiders will find Simon armed – and ready.
Cowell said: “We called in these guys and one of the things they suggested was a baseball bat. I’m not even joking.
“So I literally have a baseball bat ready to go if anyone comes in.”
The reality TV judge said he hired experts to review his security at the house in Holland Park, west London, after living in “constant fear” he may be burgled again.
He said: “Now that this guy is in prison there is an incredible sense of relief. The whole experience has been pretty traumatising and not something I ever want to go through again.
“I’ve obviously had to massively increase my personal security at home with every mod con you can imagine, and all this stuff, including a panic room.”
And Simon admitted: “What happened was utterly terrifying. It is almost irrelevant what he took – that is all just stuff. Jewellery, passports, none of that really matters.
“What really got to me though was that this guy was walking about in my house when Eric was fast asleep.
“It doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened if he had gone into his bedroom and found him. It still gives me nightmares.”
February, 33, who has committed 58 crimes in two decades, was spotted by a security worker as he fled.
In a statement read in court, Cowell said: “The whole incident has been very traumatic and there is a constant fear that it may be repeated and that it may be worse next time.”