Terry’s Instagram clue to burglars that he was away
Former captain of England and Chelsea criticised in court as gang gets 28 years for ‘high value’ burglaries
A JUDGE has criticised footballer John Terry for posting pictures of his holiday on social media, after burglars took to the opportunity to raid his home. The burglars struck at the former England captain’s Surrey mansion making off with £400,000 worth of designer goods, after spotting that he and his family were out of the country on a skiing trip.
Sentencing them to a total of 28 years for that and a string of similar raids, Judge Susan Tapping said it might have been a mistake for the footballer to advertise the fact he was not at home.
The thieves took designer handbags belonging to Mr Terry’s wife, Terri Poole, worth £126,00, more than £220,000 of jewellery and rare signed first edition Harry Potter books valued at £18,000. They also made off with £30,000 in cash and a £5,000 replica trophy, neither of which has been recovered. Not content with the haul, the thieves returned with a third, unidentified, man and an angle grinder to try to break into a safe.
CCTV footage showed three men stalking the property with axes before climbing a ladder to get into the master bedroom. The noise of the angle grinder woke the housekeeper, who raised the alarm.
The footballer posted pictures in February from the French Alps to 3.4 million Instagram followers, remarking that he was having a “great few days away skiing with the family”.
The judge said: “It might have been a mistake to post a family photograph on social media to show that he was away on holiday. His home was deliberately targeted and the master bedroom suite was ransacked. They spent some time searching for items to steal. Not content with the original haul they returned with a third man and an angle grinder determined to get into the safe.”
The gang also targeted multi-millionaire businessmen Alfie Best, dubbed the “gipsy king”, stealing luxury goods worth £150,000 from his six-bedroom mansion in Windlesham, Surrey.
They burgled a further five properties in Surrey and Sussex, stealing £600,000 in the seven raids. The court heard each defendant had long histories of offending.
Darren Eastaugh, 30, was jailed for seven years and three months; Joshua Sumer, 27, for eight years; Roy Head, 28, for seven years and four months and Oliver Hart, 25, for five years and four months. They all admitted conspiracy to commit burglary between Feb 1 and Mar 27 this year.
Surrey Police Det Con Phil Carter, in charge of the case, said afterwards: “The loss to victims was substantial … high-value homes were targeted, some with occupants present during the offences, which is likely to have been very upsetting for them.”