Jewellery worth £10.4m stolen from London home in one of Britain’s biggest burglaries
Share:
Raid on St John’s Wood mansion believed to be one of biggest thefts from a house in British criminal history. Detectives are hunting a “lone wolf” burglar who stole bespoke jewellery and designer items worth more than £10m in a 19-minute heist at a billionaire’s row mansion in London.
![[a sparkling, jewel-encrusted watch with a chain-design bracelet-style strap]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/05a80561a6e7476b3063b5f6dd1afd42e0266f4a/0_0_1398_839/master/1398.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The burglar broke in through a second-floor window and cracked a safe to carry out what is believed to be one of the biggest ever thefts from a British home. He is believed to have targeted the 13-bed home in Avenue Road, St John’s Wood, on Saturday 7 December, while people were inside. The Guardian understands the man broke in at 5.11pm and spent five minutes rummaging through rooms before clambering down stairs to the first floor, where he found high-value items. He escaped through the same second-floor window at 5.30pm.
![[platinum necklace with dark blue gemstones]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1f13d71cba7cd8aaa32075c6a4bd21cd23fe98ca/0_0_1008_1343/master/1008.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
While inside he managed to break into a safe where some of the jewels were kept, with others swiped from a dressing island. The suspect, who was armed with a weapon, was captured breaking in on security cameras, which also recorded him scouring rooms in the 22,000 sq ft (2,045 sq m) mansion. His face was covered and police and private investigators are trying to identify him.
![[bracelet with the name Shafira spelled out in sparkling jewels]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7a3094da2f5bf4b9d05f8adddc89500eceba7b35/0_0_898_774/master/898.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The targeted family are offering rewards running into hundreds of thousands of pounds for the suspect’s capture and the return of the jewellery. About eight people, including staff and some family members, were in the five-floor mansion at the time. The family do not want to be identified.
