Judge ticks off John Terry for holiday snap that tipped off £400k burglars
JOHN Terry made a ‘mistake’ boasting online about being on holiday a judge said yesterday as she jailed burglars for more than 27 years for ransacking the star’s mansion.
Judge Susan Tapping said the photo of the footballer and his wife Toni enjoying a luxury skiing break had alerted the gang that he was away.
The thieves headed to his £5million Surrey home to steal a £400,000 haul including 28 luxury handbags, designer jewellery and a set of signed first edition Harry Potter books. The raid was one of seven across the Home Counties by the five-man gang which targeted the large detached homes of wealthy individuals.
Police discovered all those involved were career criminals with convictions stretching back up to 12 years for similar break-ins. Several were on licence and supposedly being monitored after being freed from jail.
Judge Tapping said all the victims suffered ‘mental turmoil’ and should have had the right to feel safe in their homes.
‘Over about one month, four of the defendants together with others unidentified set out on a series of carefully planned burglaries,’ she said.
‘By the time police surveillance was in place, some defendants were seen spending time looking for suitable homes to be targeted.
‘Large detached houses were only considered because of the expectation high-value luxury goods would be available. It was a very successful campaign and during seven burglaries, £600,000 worth of luxury items were stolen.’
She added: ‘ Four of the defendants are experienced, if not professional burglars.’
On the raid on Terry’s home, the judge said: ‘It might have been a mistake to post a family photograph on social media to show he was away on holiday.
‘As a result his home was deliberately targeted and the master bedroom suite was ransacked.’ When the gang returned with another man and an angle grinder in a failed bid to get into a safe, the noise woke a housekeeper and triggered an alarm. Former England captain Terry was on holiday in the French Alps with his family when his Oxshott home was raided in February, Kingston Crown Court was told. He had told his 3.4million Instagram followers that he was having a ‘great few days away’. The Terry burglary was the ‘most profitable’ of the string of burglaries, which included some committed during the day while residents were at home. Roy Head, 28, Darren Eastaugh, 30, Joshua Sumer, 27, and Oliver Hart, 25, admitted conspiracy to commit burglary between February 1 and March 27, and were jailed for a total of 27 years and 11 months. A fifth man admitted handling some of the stolen goods and a sixth remains on the run. Head, of Walton- on-Thames, Surrey, was jailed for seven years and four months after the judge was told he was involved in six of the burglaries. The others were jailed for up to eight years each.