Online Reporter
An “opportunistic” thief who stole a handbag containing an emerald-encrusted Fabergé egg and watch set worth up to £2.2m from a central London pub has been jailed for more than two years.
Enzo Conticello, 29, took Rosie Dawson’s handbag which she had placed between her legs on the ground as she stood outside the Dog and Duck in Soho on 7 November 2024.
The Fabergé items were in her handbag after she had taken them for display at a work event earlier that evening. They have not been recovered.
Conticello – also known as Hakin Boudjenoune – was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud by false representation and one count of theft at an earlier hearing.
CCTV footage captured Conticello inside the pub, attempting to steal another customer’s bag, before he moved outside. He was then filmed removing the victim’s bag.
The court heard Conticello was after “easy money” and that he had handed over the bag, which also contained a laptop and credit cards, to buy drugs. He was linked to the handbag theft after trying to use Dawson’s bank cards in a nearby shop within minutes of committing the crime.
Fabergé is a world-renowned luxury jeweller founded in Russia in 1842, famous for its eggs made of gems and precious metals. Insurers paid out £106,700 for the loss to Dawson’s employers at the Craft Irish Whiskey Company, but Prosecutor Julian Winship said there were only seven Fabergé sets – containing a jewelled egg, watch, whisky bottle, cigars and humidor – in existence. — BBC
The egg is made from 18‑carat yellow gold and took more than 100 hours to create.
Bongani Ndlovu