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Simon Cowell burglary: Serial burglar jailed for eight years | Simon Cowell burglary: Serial burglar jailed for eight years |
(35 minutes later) | |
A serial burglar who stole jewellery worth almost £1m from Simon Cowell's west London home has been jailed for eight years. | A serial burglar who stole jewellery worth almost £1m from Simon Cowell's west London home has been jailed for eight years. |
Darren February took valuables from a safe at the Holland Park property as Mr Cowell and his family slept. | Darren February took valuables from a safe at the Holland Park property as Mr Cowell and his family slept. |
In an impact statement read at Isleworth Crown Court, the music mogul said he was living in "constant fear" for his family since the break-in. | In an impact statement read at Isleworth Crown Court, the music mogul said he was living in "constant fear" for his family since the break-in. |
February, aged 33 and of no fixed address, had denied the charge. | |
The court heard he had been convicted of 58 offences over two decades, including 37 burglaries. | |
In his statement, Mr Cowell said he was "very scared of what could have happened to my son if the burglar had gone into his room". | |
The X Factor supremo said he, his partner and his son's nannies had "become much more anxious over safety issues" since the burglary. | |
February took jewellery including a ring worth £500,000 from an open safe in the house in December 2015 while a security guard was in the toilet. | |
The court heard valuables worth as much as £830,000 were still missing. | |
'Difficult childhood' | |
Judge Martin Edmunds QC said February had an "appalling previous record" and had not shown "any remorse or regret". | |
He had been on licence for burglary and public order offences at the time he broke into Mr Cowell's home. | |
Mitigating, Giles Newell told the court the serial burglar had a "difficult childhood" having grown up in care. | |
February is also currently serving an eight-and-a-half year jail sentence for causing death by dangerous driving after hitting a motorcyclist near Mr Cowell's home just 10 days after the burglary. |
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