Del Boy stunt used to snatch bag containing £35,000 gems in pub garden

THIS is the moment a rucksack holding £35,000 of jewellery was allegedly swiped at a Notting Hill pub in a distraction theft likened to a famous scene in TV comedy Only Fools And Horses.

The victim, an antiques dealer, was enjoying an after-work drink with friends when a man crashed headfirst through a gate into the pub’s back garden.

As regulars went to help, a suspected thief who had been hanging around the tables at the Earl of Lonsdale grabbed the black rucksack from a bench and casually walked away.

The victim, 55, today told the Standard: “We were all keeping an eye on each other’s bags, we’re always so careful, but when someone falls through a gate like that you can’t help but turn around.

“It was only a few seconds we were l o o k i n g away b u t needed.”

The bag held around 60 items of European antique jewellery including rings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets dating from the 1820s to the 1980s. The most valuable item taken was a £5,600 high-grade solitaire diamond ring.

By the time the victim realised his bag was gone the alle ged thieves had escaped in a grey car parked outside.

The theft was caught on the pub’s CCTV, obtained by the Standard.

The dealer, who has worked in Portobello Road for 20 years, said: “From the footage it looks like the man who took my bag was on a hands-free phone and there was a signal so he knew exactly when to strike.

“They are clearly professionals. I hope there is a chance I can get some t h a t ’s a l l they of the jewellery back but more than anything I want these men caught so no one else is a victim.

“I make a living but the margins are small and this makes insurance out of the question. I’ve been quoted £9,000 a year.”

One pub regular said of the elaborate scam at the pub in Westbourne Grove: “I’ve never heard of anyone doing any- thing as brazen as this. Watching the film back it’s like the scene when Del Boy falls through the bar hatch.

“But it’s natural instinct to turn and see if the person is OK, that’s why they do it that way, I suppose.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers were reviewing the CCTV. The theft took place around 2.30pm on Saturday August 20.

Both men are described as being of Middle Eastern appearance and aged around 40. The man who fell in the gate wore a black T-shirt, black trousers and black shoes and was carrying a brown rucksack.

The other suspect was wearing a light polo top, blue denim jeans and dark shoes and a dark cap.