Man Convicted for £1 Million Theft from Simon Cowell

A man has been convicted of the burglary of £1 million’ worth of posh jewelry from the home of Simon Cowell in December of 2015. Darren February, a 33-year-old repeat offender of no fixed address, was found guilty of the dirty deed through a mixture of DNA evidence and witness testimony.

Cowell has expressed his relief that the culprit is now behind bars and warned he would go to court again to prosecute any aspiring bandits who sought to raid his £35 million luxury pad in West London in the future.

The latest in a long list of crimes

Perpetual bad egg February already has plenty of convictions to his name (22, 37 or 58, depending on which tabloid rag you subscribe to) and is currently serving an eight-and-a-half year sentence for mowing down an innocent motorcyclist just days after the break-in at Cowell’s luxury pad.

On the night in question, he smashed through the glass patio door at 1.30am and helped himself to the jewelry and passports from an open safe, which Cowell had deliberately left unlocked the previous evening so that his partner could access her jewelry without waking the household as she caught an early flight.

February absconded from the scene with £950,000 worth of stolen booty (none of which has been recovered to date), though he did leave behind a pair of gloves and an incriminating handprint on the wall.

Security guard caught with his pants down

Cowell, who is renowned for taking potshots at substandard wannabe crooners and keeping his nipples warm with his waistband, was asleep upstairs with his wife Lauren Silverman and their two-year-old tyke Eric when the break-in occurred. Though the X-Factor bigwig does employ onsite security, it’s believed his private guard Simon Williams was answering the call of nature at the time.

Williams’ convenient abandonment of his post had led Cowell to believe he was in on the act. When asked whether he was aware of his boss’ suspicions while on the witness stand, Williams replied that he was not. He also responded to a question about his whereabouts at the time of the break-in with the following:

“There are only two places I would have been, in the kitchen making a tea or coffee, or on the loo, and I’m assuming it was the latter.”

Bang to rights

In addition to the DNA evidence left behind at the scene, February was also fingered by residential security guard M’Batonha Mendes, who gave chase to the criminal as he fled the scene. Furthermore, the local constabulary positively identified February as the culprit from the CCTV footage inside Cowell’s home, making it an open and shut case for the jury. February was convicted in less than an hour.

“It must have been terrifying for the occupants to imagine someone was inside their home while they slept, particularly with a young child in the house,” commented Detective Sergeant James Howarth, the investigating officer in the case.

“I’d like to commend my colleagues for their excellent skills in recognising February and also the forensic scientist and prosecuting counsel who acted so ably in this case. The local security guard should also be highly praised for his actions that night.”

Protect your own home

If even billionaire hotshots like Simon Cowell can’t buy enough muscle to deter burglaries, then it’s likely that relying on human protection simply isn’t going to cut it when it comes to home security. What’s more, Cowell’s subsequent mistrust of his guard underlines such unreliability even further – but one thing that never lies is the camera.

At Blackburn Alarms, we have a whole host of CCTV security cameras, as well as intruder alerts and access control systems to increase safety and give you peace of mind. To find out more about how we can help secure your home or workplace, get in touch with us today.