A career criminal who raided the penthouse hotel suite of football boss Jose Mourinho and his family has been jailed for 31 months.
Jamie Filan, 32, grabbed designer gems worth more than £100,000 from suite at the five-star Wyndham Grand hotel in Chelsea where the Real Madrid manager was staying with wife Matilde and 16-year-old daughter, Tita.
Southwark Crown Court heard yesterday how the Arsenal supporter bypassed tight security before helping himself to valuable jewellery including a Cartier pendant, earrings and a ring worth £51,450, which the soccer star had given to his wife.
Filan’s haul also included a Bulgari white gold watch and earrings worth £30,450, a £14,900 Van Cleef and Arpels gold bracelet, a Tiffany 18ct white gold diamond cross pendant worth £2,450, a Boucheron yellow, white and pink gold ring, valued at £4,600, and a pair of Chaumet 18ct white gold diamond earrings, worth £2,750.
He stashed the jewellery, plus a white Apple Ipad 2 worth £519, an Apple Macbook Pro worth £1,829, and an £1,850 Ermenegildo Zegna coat, into a Louis Vuitton suitcase belonging to the Mourinho family before ‘coolly’ asking the concierge to call him and cab and making off with the stolen goods.
Filan was out on licence at the time, having been released earlier this year from a sentence for a domestic burglary.
Jamie Filan, left, took jewellery including gems football manager Jose Mourinho had given to his wife, Matilde
In 2007 he was jailed for five years for running over and killing dental nurse Michelle Dever in Lancing, West Sussex.
Peter Zinner, prosecuting, told the court how the Mourinho family were left ‘extremely distressed’ after jewellery worth £106,600 was stolen during the raid.
‘On March 23 this year the victims of the burglary, who are in fact Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid football manager, and his wife Matilde and their daughter, Tita, booked into a penthouse suite at the Wyndham Grand Hotel.
‘Mr Mourinho left the hotel on March 26 as he was called away on business, but Mrs Mourinho and their daughter remained in residence there until after the burglary.
‘Access to the eighth floor of the hotel, where the penthouse suites are, is difficult due to security measures which require a swipe card to be used in the lift.
‘Access, however, can be gained via a service lift but only staff would be aware of this.
‘It seems that on March 27, Mrs Mourinho and her daughter left the suite to go shopping in London at 10am.
‘The suite was left locked and secured but on their return they discovered the suite had been entered unlawfully and a significant amount of personal property was taken.’
Filan was caught a fortnight later on April 13, after he targeted another suite at the exclusive Four Seasons in Hamilton Place, Park Lane.
He stole items including an IPhone 4S and two bottles of scent but was apprehended by security staff the following day after returning to try his luck with a different room.
The court heard that Filan, who used several aliases including ‘Jimmy Dormer’, had committed more than 21 thefts in the past decade, and would ‘specifically target’ luxury hotel rooms where there would ‘rich pickings’.
Mr Zinner said: ‘This wasn’t a lucky burglary, there is a very strong inference that the defendant was aware Mr Mourinho and his family were staying in the room and that he specifically targeted it for the rich picking he would have obtained.
‘He has a complete cavalier attitude in that he re-offended within two weeks of a major burglary resulting in a significant gain for himself.’
Sentencing Filan to 31 months in prison, Judge John Price said: ‘This was a planned entry and an expensive hotel suite.
‘You talked your way in and you had the nerve to talk your way out with the expensive suitcase, getting the concierge to call you a taxi.
‘That’s a real professional burglary and you have done it many times in the past. You are a persistent burglar of either domestic premises or hotels.
‘You have great expertise and you knew how to get into these places and you did it very cleverly.’
Judge Price also banned Filan from entering any hotel in the City of London and the City of Westminster for five years after being released from jail, as part of his licence conditions.
Read more: Daily Mail
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