ROBBER GUILTY OF TERROR RAID ON ASHLEY COLE
Ex-England star feared gang would murder him
One of them was hyper, like he was on drugs. He said he wanted to cut my hands
ASHLEY COLE ON THE MOMENT HOME RAIDERS THREATENED HIM
They are going to kill me in front of my children
ASHLEY COLE ON FEARS AS GANG TIED HIM UP
A ROBBER has been found guilty of taking part in a terrifying raid in which a gang threatened to cut off the fingers of ex-Premier League and England star Ashley Cole.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea player was targeted by thugs who stormed his house in 2020.
He told police he feared he would be “set alight or murdered” in front of his children and partner Sharon Canu.
Cole, wearing just a pair of boxer shorts, was bound with cable ties and forced to his knees at his home in Fetcham, Surrey, as one raider screamed: “Let me cut his fingers.”
Cole, now coaching at Everton, told detectives: “One of the guys was hyper. It was like he was on drugs. He was saying he wanted to cut my hands.
“The end result is they are going to kill me in front of my kids, or take out their frustration on my kids or girlfriend.”
In another raid, eight months before the attack on Cole, a gang targeted the home of former Spurs star Tom Huddlestone.
His wife feared she would be killed or raped by the masked Joanna Dixon was restrained with cable ties and forced to reveal where valuables were at her luxury home in Nottinghamshire.
They struck while Huddlestone, who now plays for Hull City, was appearing in an away game for Derby County.
The gang eventually fled with items worth £500,000, including her husband’s FA Cup runners-up medal.
Kurtis Dilks was convicted of the Cole robbery and conspiring to rob Miss Dixon following a trial at Nottingham crown court.
The 35-year-old delivery driver was described as a “dominant and dangerous” robber.
Two other men, 35-year-old Ashley Cumberpatch and Andrew McDonald, 40, were convicted of conspiring to rob Ms Dixon. The trio, all from Nottingham, were also convicted of stealing the £3.5million diamondencrusted Portland Tiara in 2018.
Regarded as a national treasure, it was snatched from its glass case along with a £250,000 brooch from a gallery on the Welbeck Estate in Notts.
The tiara, worn by the Duchess of Portland for the corothugs. nation of King Edward VII in 1902, was taken by the crooks to jewellers Sercan Evsin, 25, and Tevfik Guccuk, 39, in London’s Hatton Garden. Detectives said it was broken down and smuggled out of the UK to Istanbul. It has never been recovered. The Turkish pair, from London, were convicted of converting criminal property in relation to the tiara theft and a number of other raids. Adrian Eddishaw, 32, and Matthew Johnson, 34, both of Nottingham, were cleared of taking part in the tiara raid. Christopher Yorke, 49, of Nottingham, was convicted of converting criminal property. Darren Stokes, 35, and Gordon Thornhill, 48, both of Nottingham, were cleared of the same offence.
The convicted men will be sentenced next Friday. Police are still searching for three others who took part in the Cole raid.