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3 days ago
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The burglar who stole £10m worth of jewellery in one of Britain’s biggest ever heists broke into a London mansion through a bathroom window and escaped with his haul in a rucksack on his back.
Police are hunting for the suspect, described as a “lone wolf”, after the theft in Avenue Road, north London, just after 5pm on 7 December.
The burglar is understood to have first tried a rear window backing on to the luxury home’s garden, then clambered on to a roof, came back down and then successfully entered through a window at the side of the second floor.
The home, comprising five floors and 22,000 sq feet, is registered in the name of Shafira Huang, a social media influencer.
A neighbouring home to the burgled mansion was staging viewings about the time of the theft and is on the market for £59.5m.
One line of inquiry is whether those behind the burglary pretended to be a buyer to gain intelligence on the property they were targeting.
The layout and size of the house for sale is similar, and it may have provided a chance to gain intelligence on the Huang home, such as whether windows were open.
Csaba Virag, a representative of the family, said the burglar had forced open the closed sash bathroom window, and then clambered on to a bathroom sink, to get into the property. At some point, the burglar when trying to get into the mansion may have used a ladder from a nearby property.
Virag said about eight people, including himself, were in the mansion at the time, and it was unusually windy that day: “I heard a door bang, I thought it was the storm.”
The burglar was believed to be on the roof, said Virag, just after 5pm when two housekeepers left the home. He entered at 5.11pm, exiting 19 minutes later.
Security footage from inside the home, said Virag, shows the burglar turning right out of the bathroom and trying to get into a bedroom, one of 13 in the home.
He was wearing gloves and clutching a canister.
A few minutes later the suspect is seen on the first floor and most of his haul is taken from a dressing island in one room.
Virag said a safe containing other valuables was ignored by the burglar. He said the footage showed how meticulous the burglar was: “He takes a Rolex watch out of the box, then closes it and puts the box back.
“He left leaving minimal marks, even though to get to the house he had to come through a construction site.”
Virag said he thought those behind the burglary may have carried out reconnaissance beforehand, possibly posing as a potential buyer for the neighbouring mansion which is on the market: “Anyone could view that house and use it to surveil the home.”
Virag, who is Huang’s chief of staff, said he doubted the burglary involved any of the home’s employees and there was no evidence even suggesting that.
CCTV puts the height of the burglar at about 5 feet 7 or 8 inches tall. Police said the suspect is a white man in his late 20s to 30s, of medium build. He was wearing a dark hoodie, cargo pants and a grey baseball cap.
Police said the burglar escaped with £150,000 worth of Hermès crocodile Kelly handbags, £15,000 in cash, and bespoke jewellery worth £10.4m.
Among the jewels was a Graff 10.73-carat diamond ring, two butterfly diamond rings by De Beers, a Hermès 3.03-carat ring, an aquamarine ring and a “Niloticus Lumière” necklace, as well as numerous other items including pink sapphire earrings from Katherine Wang shaped like butterflies, police said.
Police warned those trying to sell the stolen items that they were easily identifiable, and would not say if they believed the valuables could already be out of the country and for sale on the international hidden market.
The family have offered a reward of up to £500,000 for information leading to the capture and conviction of the suspect. A second reward is on offer of 10% of the value of any items recovered.
Avenue Road is one of Britain’s wealthiest addresses and home to scores of largely international billionaires and millionaires.
Before the burglary, Huang posted photos of herself on Instagram, some of which showed her luxury lifestyle. The account has now been made private.
