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A man who stole a handbag containing a Fabergé egg and watch set valued at up to £2.2m has been jailed for more than two years.
Enzo Conticello, 29, took the Givenchy bag belonging to Rosie Dawson as she stood in the smoking area of the Dog and Duck pub in Soho, London, on 7 November 2024.
Inside the £1,600 bag was an emerald-encrusted Fabergé egg and watch set belonging to Dawson’s employers, the Craft Irish Whiskey Company. He also took a £1,500 Apple laptop, Apple AirPods, a £350 store voucher, keys, three bank cards, £200 of makeup, a Mulberry card holder worth £150 and £20 in cash.
Southwark crown court heard on Thursday that Conticello was after “easy money” and handed over the bag – complete with the Fabergé egg and watch – to buy drugs.
Kate Livesey, the recorder, sentenced him to two years and three months in prison, telling him the “opportunistic” theft had caused “inconvenience and stress” to Dawson and her company.
She added: “Ms Dawson described the particular shock and panic upon realising a bag containing items of such particular value owned by the company had been stolen, and the incredible stress this incident has caused her.”
Conticello – also known as Hakin Boudjenoune – pleaded guilty at a hearing in February to three charges of fraud by false representation and one count of theft. He was linked to the theft after trying to use Dawson’s stolen bank cards in a nearby shop minutes afterward.
Julian Winship, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing: “On 7 November 2024 at just before 10pm, Ms Dawson went to the Dog and Duck pub in Soho. She was outside the premises in the designated smoking area, she put her handbag on the ground in between her legs, and a few minutes later she noticed her handbag was no longer there.”
The court heard that Dawson had the Fabergé items because she had taken them for display at a work event earlier that evening.
Winship said Conticello “wanted to obtain some easy cash” and prosecutors accepted he did not intend to steal the Fabergé egg and watch. Insurers have paid out £106,700 to the drinks company for the loss.
There are only seven Fabergé sets – containing a jewelled egg, watch, cigars and case – in existence. Three have been sold for between £1.5m and £2.2m.
Conticello’s barrister, Katie Porter-Windley, told the court he lost his job as a chef in the Covid pandemic and slipped into addiction. “On the night in question, it was a moment of opportunity which he took, and he is genuinely remorseful for his behaviour,” she added. “He gave the bag to someone to purchase drugs. He had a cocaine addiction at the time.”
Within minutes of her handbag being stolen, Dawson received a fraud alert on her phone, showing Conticello had tried to use one of her bank cards for a £33.48 purchase at a shop in nearby Berwick Street.
Two further attempts were made to use her cards, at 11.30pm and 12.30am, but they had already been cancelled.
The court heard the Fabergé egg and watch had not been recovered and Winship said efforts to seek confiscation or compensation from Conticello would not be pursued. “It appears to me unlikely that the defendant is a person of means able to satisfy either of these particular prosecutorial routes available to us,” he said.
Conticello is likely to serve up to half the prison term before being released on licence.
