Gang threatened ‘to cut off ex-England star’s fingers in raid on home’
Cole targeted by robbers who also stole £3.5m tiara, court hears
‘Saw Mr Cole with his hands tied’
A BURGLAR who stole a £3.5million tiara worn to Edward VII’s coronation also threatened to cut former England footballer Ashley Cole’s fingers off with pliers in a raid on his home, a court was told.
The diamond-encrusted Portland Tiara and a £275,000 brooch were snatched from the Welbeck Estate in Worksop in 2018 and will never again be seen in their original state, a jury heard.
Kurtis Dilks, 34, is accused of being behind the tiara theft and being part of a gang of four robbers who smashed their way into Mr Cole’s home with a sledgehammer and tied up the former Chelsea star in January 2020.
Mr Cole, 41, and his partner Sharon Canu were bound with cable ties and threatened with knives with their two children present, the court heard.
Dilks, Matthew Johnson, Adrian Eddishaw, Andrew MacDonald, Ashley Cumberpatch and his partner Kelly Duong are all accused over the theft of the national treasure.
Michael Brady QC told Nottingham Crown Court it was difficult to overstate the cultural value of the tiara and brooch.
The sixth Duke of Portland commissioned Cartier to create the headpiece for his wife, Winifred, Duchess of Portland, and she wore it to the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902.
The thieves used power tools to break into the gallery, vault and display case while clad in motorcycle helmets, boiler suits and gloves, he added.
Then just 13 months after the tiara heist, former England star Cole was led around his house in just shorts as Dilks and three other balaclava-clad raiders demanded jewellery, the court heard. Dilks is accused of robbing Cole and Miss Canu, as well as raiding the home of former Tottenham Hotspur and Derby County midfielder Tom Huddlestone with Cumberpatch and MacDonald.
Mr Brady said Miss Canu hid in a wardrobe to ring police when the couple realised their home in Fetcham, Surrey, was being broken into. ‘The next thing Miss Canu knew was when one of the robbers opened the wardrobe door and took the phone from her while she was talking to police,’ he continued.
‘Miss Canu followed the intruder and ...then saw Mr Cole on his knees with his hands tied behind his back.’
Mr Brady told jurors Miss Canu’s hands were then bound together by black cable ties. He said: ‘Mr Cole mentioned that one of the attackers... kept saying “let’s cut his fingers”. At the time he was armed with a pair of pliers.’ Mr Brady said one robber prevented the gang from using the pliers on Mr Cole, before they fled after one shouted ‘Police!’ Dilks, of Clifton, Nottingham, faces three charges of conspiracy to burgle, four charges of converting criminal property, three charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and two counts of robbery.
Cumberpatch, his partner Duong, MacDonald, Matthew Johnson, Eddishaw, Darren Stokes, Christopher Yorke, Gordon Thornhill, Tevfik Guccuk, and Sercan Evsin are also on trial for their alleged part in the series of burglaries.
The trial continues.