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Wednesday 15 May 2013

Mourinho loses £100,000 of jewellery in raid... by Arsenal fan: Prolific burglar is sentenced to two years after targeting former Chelsea manager's hotel suite

SOURCE: Daily Mail
Jose Mourinho and wife

Jamie Filan, left, took jewellery including gems football manager Jose Mourinho had given to his wife, Matilde

A prolific burglar who stole more than £100,000 worth of jewellery from the London hotel suite of former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been jailed.
Jamie Filan, 33, who is believed to be an Arsenal fan, took items including a Cartier pendant, earrings and a ring worth £51,450 that Mourinho had given to his wife, Matilde.
She was staying in the suite at the five-star Wyndham Grand Hotel along with their 16-year-old daughter, Tita. Mother and daughter were out shopping at the time of the raid, while Mourinho was away on business.
Filan used a service lift to get into the penthouse suite, bypassing tight security. His £106,600 haul also included a Bulgari white gold watch and earrings worth £30,450, a £14,900 Van Cleef and Arpels gold bracelet and a Tiffany 18ct white gold diamond cross pendant, worth £2,450.
He also stole an iPad worth £500, an Apple Macbook Pro valued at £1,829, and an Ermenegildo Zegna coat, worth £1,850.He packed the goods in a Louis Vuitton suitcase belonging to the Mourinho family, before ‘coolly’ asking the hotel concierge to book him a taxi and strolling out.
It is believed Filan deliberately targeted Mourinho’s suite at the hotel in Chelsea. The soccer boss is currently at Real Madrid, but he is strongly tipped to be about to return to the London club.

Filan’s Facebook page includes several photographs of him wearing an Arsenal shirt, as well as one of him in a Manchester City shirt and an image of Barcelona’s stadium. All are rivals to Mourinho’s past and present clubs. Filan was on licence when he carried out the raid, after being released earlier this year from a sentence for a domestic burglary. He has 19 previous convictions for 49 offences, 21 of which were theft.
In 2007 he was jailed for five years after running over and killing dental nurse Michelle Dever in Lancing, West Sussex.
He was released early, in June 2009, and caused outrage after boasting on Facebook about jet-skiing, quad-biking and nightclubbing in Ibiza while on licence.
The court heard Filan had managed to get into Mourinho's penthouse suite at the hotel via a service lift
The court heard Filan had managed to get into Mourinho's penthouse suite at the hotel via a service lift
Peter Zinner, prosecuting, told Southwark Crown Court, in South London, that the robbery, in March, had left the Mourinho family ‘extremely distressed’.
Filan, who has numerous aliases including ‘Jimmy Dormer’, was caught a fortnight later after he targeted a suite at the exclusive Four Seasons hotel in Park Lane.
He stole items including an iPhone 4S and two bottles of perfume, but security staff caught him the following day after he returned  to try his luck with a different room. Mr Zinner said: ‘He targets premises specifically because of the prospect of rich pickings and his preference is to steal from hotel rooms where there are high-value items.
‘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.’
Filan, who was born in Ireland  and has since lived in London and Peterborough, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary.
Judge John Price told Filan, pictured, that he was a 'persistent burglar' who knew what he was doing
Judge John Price told Filan, pictured, that he was a 'persistent burglar' who knew what he was doing
Filan admitted two counts of burglary and was jailed for 31 months at Southwark Crown Court yesterday
Filan admitted two counts of burglary and was jailed for 31 months at Southwark Crown Court yesterday
Sentencing him 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 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.
Filan, who was wearing a black tracksuit, appeared to be on  the verge of tears as the sentence was passed.
James Higbee, defending, said Filan turned to crime after accruing a £7,500 debt with a loan shark, adding: ‘He has no intention of returning to London when he is released and will remain in Peterborough to be close to his young daughter.’

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