the times | Wednesday April 13 2022 9times2
T
here is often talk of
crime epidemics in the
UK, alarmist reports
in tabloids about gang
violence or mobile
phones being snatched
on every street corner.
The figures rarely
support the headlines. But it is no
exaggeration to say that one particular
class of victim has been relentlessly
and ruthlessly targeted in recent years:
the multimillionaire footballer.
This week a trial in Nottingham
crown court heard how Ashley Cole,
the former England footballer (and
now coach at Everton), was in January
2020 tied up by intruders wearing
balaclavas in the presence of his
partner and young children. At one
point an attacker said: “Let’s cut his
fingers,” the jury heard. He then
allegedly had his hands sprayed with
Febreze in what appears to be an
attempt to destroy DNA evidence.
The trial is ongoing, but it has
highlighted the fact that wealthy
footballers are no more immune to
burglaries than anyone else. In an
unrelated case just a few weeks ago,
Tahith Chong, a Dutch Manchester
United footballer (presently on loan
to Birmingham City), became the fifth
player from the Manchester area to
be burgled since Christmas. He was
awoken at 3am with a knife held to his
throat; various balaclava-clad burglars
demanded he tell them the location of
his watches and jewellery.
João Cancelo, the Manchester City
star, was attacked at his home over
Christmas, and was left with cuts and
bruises. What makes this case even
more shocking is that the victim was
at home with his family. In recent
years, most robberies have featured
thieves doing their research and
establishing when the victim will be
away before breaking and entering.
Will Geddes runs International
Corporate Protection, which provides
security services for wealthy clients,
including footballers; he says this new
tactic may be purposeful. “There’s
been a real trajectory from the
organised criminals. It used to be that
they’d wait for the player to post a
picture from the Maldives or Dubai
before striking, but actually waiting
until they are at home means the
jewellery won’t be in the safe; it will be
easier to get hold of the car keys or
demand the safe be open. Nothing is
off limits now for intruders.”
He adds that organised criminals
will increasingly invest the time andWhy elite football stars don’t
feel safe in their own homes
At first players’
properties were
burgled while they
were away. Now it’s
even more sinister,
says Harry Wallop
pointed out that it might have been
a mistake for him to post a photograph
of his family on a skiing holiday. Snaps
taken at home, meanwhile, reveal
the inside of the player’s house: the
windows, doors and garden as well as
the expensive gadgets inside — crucial
information for any potential intruder.
Pogba has posted on Instagram
pictures of his widescreen television
at home because he has a deal with
a technology company called TCL.
David Beckham, meanwhile, is an
ambassador for Tudor Watches and is
rarely seen without one on his wrist.
Just a few weeks ago, thieves broke
into the Beckhams’ house in Holland
Park, London, through an upper
window and stole some valuables —
while the family was at home.
However, as the wealth and the
trappings of wealth have mushroomed,
security measures have not. Simon
Newton, who runs a private security
company geared at wealthy clients,
says: “It’s easy for me to say, I know,
but many of these people don’t take
security seriously.” He adds that a
safe room is a basic measure that he
recommends all his clients install. “A
safe room isn’t a big expense. [It’s just]
a room you can’t get into, from where
you can call the police or your security
team. You often just have to upgrade
the door. It’s an easy thing to have.”
Geddes adds that a safe room is
often the en-suite bathroom to the
master bedroom, with a discreetly
reinforced door and door frame.
Other experts point out that it’s
common policy among clued-up
wealthy clients to have a couple or
even three safes: the real one, plus a
pair of decoys containing either
limited valuables or fakes. Another
option is to fortify the perimeter of
your property — if your neighbours
will let you. The Liverpool star
Thiago Alcântara recently failed
to get planning permission to have
what was described as “a ring of
steel” erected around his mansion
in Knutsford, Cheshire, after a local
residents’ group objected to a design
that they described as “military or
industrial in style”.
Newton says that a handful of
players opt to pay for bodyguards,
but many do not like the cost. “If you
don’t want a bodyguard walking
around with you every day, fine. But
you should have 24-hour security at
your house.” This, he says, could be an
old-fashioned guard sitting outside the
house all day, which costs about £800
a day (for two people doing two shifts).
Or they could hire a rapid-response
security company, such as Stopfordian,
which focuses on the footballer
heartland of Alderley Edge. It claims
that, with its 20-man response team,
someone will arrive on the scene in an
average of four minutes.
Geddes hopes that the wave of
attacks will wane as more players wise
up. “The younger breed of footballers
are much more savvy, but sadly it’s
often after a terrible incident that they
really wake up to the risks of making
their entire lives public.”resources to research the addresses of
footballers or celebrities, knowing that
a haul of £100,000 for a ten-minute
job is worth weeks of homework.
At the trial of three Italians who
were found guilty of robbing Frank
Lampard in 2019 when he was Chelsea
manager and stealing £60,000 worth
of goods, the court was told that these
were “organised crimes carried out by
organised criminals” who had flown to
London specifically for the burglary.
Paul Pogba, of Manchester United,
was targeted when he was playing a
match against Atlético Madrid at Old
Trafford last month. His wife, Zulay,
was at the stadium, but his two
children were asleep when the
robbers broke into the family’s house
in Hale, Manchester, and stole a safe
containing valuables, including his
World Cup winner’s medal. In a
social media post the footballer
wrote: “The burglars were in our
home for less than five minutes, but
in that time they took from us
something more valuable than
anything we had in our home...
our sense of safety and security.”
It is estimated that at least 80 of
Europe’s top football players, including
three managers, have had their homes
raided since the trend started in the
mid-2000s, according to analysis by
the online magazine Vice. Of course,
there is a simple reason for this
explosion in crime. In 1992, the
average annual wage for a player inGREGG DEGUIRE/GETTY IMAGES; W8MEDIA/MEGAChristine and Frank
Lampard, who were
burgled in 2019The Beckhams’ Holland Park home,
which was recently broken into
while the family were insidethe Premier League was £77,000, about
four times the average UK salary. Last
year, it was more than £3 million,
95 times the average UK salary.
Geddes says: “Fundamentally, if you
look at the profile of those who are
targeted, they tend to be young and
really into their bling — expensive
cars, watches, diamond rings.
“They are also often prolific users of
social media. It’s sometimes because
their manager or their public relations
team want them to do it. If they are
a brand ambassador for a particular
product, it’s part of their job.”
These social media posts are usually
little more than adverts, but they
can also advertise when people are
not at their properties. In 2017 the
footballer John Terry, who was then at
Aston Villa, had his Surrey home
burgled while he was away. A judgeA man appeared in
court this week accused
of being involved in
the burglary of the
home of Ashley Cole
and his partner
Sharon Canu, above.
He denies the charge