Over £2.2 million in fabergé theft sentenced a pub thief

 

Insurers paid out £106,700 for the loss(Image: Met Police)

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.

 On November 7, 2024, 29-year-old Enzo Conticello snatched Rosie Dawson's handbag from between her legs as she stood outside the Dog and Duck in Soho. After she had displayed the Fabergé items earlier that evening at a work event, they were still in her handbag. They have not been recovered.

 At an earlier hearing, Conticello, also known as Hakin Boudjenoune, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation and one count of theft. He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court. CCTV footage captured Conticello inside the pub, attempting to steal another customer's bag, before he moved outside.  The victim's bag was then removed from him on camera. The court was told that Conticello was looking for "easy money" and that he had given the bag, which also had credit cards and a laptop in it, to buy drugs. After attempting to use Dawson's bank cards in a nearby store within minutes of committing the crime, he was linked to the handbag theft.

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The luxury jeweler Fabergé, which was established in Russia in 1842, is well-known 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.

 The egg is made from 18‑carat yellow gold and took more than 100 hours to create.

 104 diamonds make up the setting, and an uncut Zambian emerald is inside. The accompanying watch, inspired by one of the "Seven Wonders of Ireland", weighs 22 carats and is encased in rose gold.

 Katie Porter-Windley, Conticello's lawyer, said that he used to be a chef, but the Covid pandemic cost him his job and led to cocaine addiction. "On the night in question, it was a moment of opportunity which he took, and he is genuinely remorseful for his behaviour," she said.

 Conticello was arrested for separate theft offences in Belfast in November 2025, more than a year after the handbag theft, and was then linked to the 2024 crime.

 According to Porter-Windley, Conticello had no idea how valuable the items he had stolen were.

Conticello did not know how valuable the items were, his barrister told the court(Image: Met Police)

When Recorder Kate Livesey said the egg was "quite extraordinary looking", Porter-Windley said it was "so extraordinary that he wouldn't know on the face of it whether that was high value or not".

 Sentencing him to two years and three months in prison, Livesey said the "opportunistic" theft caused "inconvenience and stress" to Dawson and her company.

 "Ms Dawson described the particular shock and panic upon realising a bag containing items of such particular value owned by the company had been stolen, and the incredible stress this incident has caused her," she said.

 Police are continuing to hunt for the egg and watch.

Det Con Arben Morina, who is leading the investigation, said: "Conticello thought nothing of helping himself to someone else's possessions, and he now faces a prison sentence as a result of his greed."

 "We would urge anyone with information to contact us," the statement reads. "Our investigation to find the egg and the watch is ongoing."

Source: BBC