Fortress Cowell has panic room
AFTER a burglar raided his home, Simon Cowell said he lived in constant fear it may happen again.
So to prevent another break-in, he has spent an estimated £500,000 (about €600,000) on in-house security including alarms, a panic room… and a baseball bat.
The Britain’s Got Talent judge paid for experts to overhaul security in his £35million London mansion after an intruder broke in while he and partner Lauren Silverman, 39, and their son Eric were asleep. Burglar Darren February was jailed for eight years for the December 2015 raid.
‘Now that this guy is in prison, there is an incredible sense of relief,’ Cowell, 57, told the Mail. ‘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. My house basically looks like something out of Raiders Of The Lost Ark.
‘We called in these guys and one of the things they suggested was a baseball bat. I’m not even joking.’
He added: ‘What happened was utterly terrifying. It is almost irrelevant what [February] took – that is all just stuff. What really got to me 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 is terrifying, and still gives me nightmares.’
The 33-year-old thief, who has committed 58 crimes over two decades, was jailed in February this year. He was identified by a security worker as he fled. Items stolen included a ring, earrings, watches and a diamond bracelet, estimated to be worth £950,000 in total. February also stole two passports, which were both recovered.
Panic rooms provide a safe location from within the home during an emergency. Made with steel beams or bricks and concrete blocks, they are designed to be impenetrable with the exception of a bulldozer, tank or dynamite.
At the touch of a button, police are alerted and a patrol car is sent.
Other provisions are understood to include CCTV, light and heat motion sensors, security guards, electronic fences and alarms.