Brothers ‘stole World Cup for the thrill’

A LONDON gangster and his brother were behind the notorious unsolved theft of the World Cup trophy just months before the 1966 tournament in England, it has been claimed.

Sidney Cugullere, with the help of his brother Reg, stole the Jules Rimet trophy while it was on show in Westminster, Reg’s son Gary said.

The theft led to one of the biggest i nvestigations i n Scotland Yard’s history, before the gold cup was found seven days later by a dog named Pickles in bushes outside his owner’s south London home.

Gary said his uncle Sidney had stolen the trophy “for the thrill” and not for financial gain – and that Reg had also been in the hall at the time.

He added: “On the street after coming out of the doors, Sid lifted his jacket and said, ‘Ere you are, Reg, look at this’. He opened one side of his jacket and the World Cup was there.”

Gary claimed the pair hid it in Reg’s father-in-law’s coal shed.

“My dad was freaking out and he knew there was no way they could sell the cup,” he said. The trophy was snatched on March 20 1966.

Three days later a package containing the top of the trophy and a typed ransom note demanding £15,000 arrived at Chelsea Football Club.

Detective Inspector Leonard Buggy was called in to meet a go-between called Edward Betchley, later jailed for his part in the theft.