Football manager’s wife and daughter lock themselves in bathroom in raid terror
THE family of former Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers barricaded themselves in a bathroom yesterday as intruders ransacked their home.
The thugs burst into the main bedroom where wife Charlotte Searle, 35, and step-daughter Lola, six, were huddled together.
The terrified pair fled to the adjoining bathroom and locked themselves in as the two thieves plundered the house. The haul is thought to include medals and trophies won by Rodgers.
The 46-year-old, who quit his job at Celtic last week to become manager of Leicester City, was in the Midlands at the time of the break-in. Sources said Miss Searle and Lola were badly shaken but unharmed in the raid at the property in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire.
‘Charlotte was home asleep with her daughter at the time when they broke in,’ a neighbour told Sky Sports. ‘They might have thought the house was empty or, even worse, known she was home alone.
‘It must have been terrible for her, especially with the wee one there.
‘It was a massive police response and to be fair they seemed to have arrived quite quickly but the gang had already fled.’
A source said: ‘Brendan’s wife and step-daughter managed to get them-
‘Massive police response’
selves to a bathroom. They barricaded themselves in and waited. It must have been very frightening.’
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: ‘Around 1.55am on Wednesday, police received a report of a breakin at a property in Bearsden.
‘No one was injured in the incident but a number of items were stolen.
‘An investigation is under way and inquiries are ongoing.’
Rodgers married Miss Searle in June 2017 after divorcing Susan, his partner of 24 years, with whom he has two children.
The couple met in 2012 when Rodgers became manager of Liverpool FC, where Miss Searle worked as a travel co-ordinator.
She moved to Glasgow with Lola when Rodgers took over as manager of Celtic in 2016. Rodgers won seven domestic trophies at the club, most recently winning the Scottish League Cup in December.
But his move to Leicester prompted fury among Celtic fans, who raised a banner during the club’s last game that read: ‘You traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt. Always a Fraud.’
Rodgers was sacked by Liverpool in 2015 after leading them to the brink of Premier League glory the previous year.
In 2015 Rodgers and his ex-wife became embroiled in a multimillionpound divorce row over a property empire that consists of 102 houses.