Pub thief jailed over £2.2m Fabergé theft

Pub Thief Sentenced for £2.2m Fabergé Theft

Enzo Conticello, 29, has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for stealing a handbag containing an emerald-encrusted Fabergé egg and a watch set worth up to £2.2 million from a central London pub. The theft occurred on 7 November 2024, when Conticello, also known as Hakin Boudjenoune, took Rosie Dawson’s bag while she stood outside the Dog and Duck pub in Soho. The items were in her handbag after she had displayed them at a work event earlier that evening. The stolen goods have not been recovered.

Conticello was linked to the crime after using Dawson’s bank cards at a nearby shop within minutes of the theft. The court heard he had stolen the bag to purchase drugs, having handed it over to fund his cocaine addiction. His barrister, Katie Porter-Windley, explained that Conticello had previously worked as a chef but lost his job during the pandemic, leading to financial struggles. She stated, “On the night in question, it was a moment of opportunity which he took, and he is genuinely remorseful for his behaviour.”

“Conticello did not realise how valuable the items were that he had stolen,” Porter-Windley added. When Recorder Kate Livesey described the Fabergé egg as “quite extraordinary looking,” she noted, “so extraordinary that he wouldn’t know on the face of it whether that was high value or not.”

Prosecutor Julian Winship highlighted that only seven Fabergé sets in total exist, each containing a jewelled egg, watch, whisky bottle, cigars, and humidor. Insurers paid out £106,700 to Dawson’s employers at the Craft Irish Whiskey Company for the loss. Livesey emphasized that the theft caused “inconvenience and stress” to Dawson and her company, noting her “particular shock and panic” upon realizing the bag’s contents had been stolen. “This incident has created an incredible stress for her,” she said during sentencing.

Conticello was arrested for separate thefts in Belfast in November 2025, over a year after the original crime. Police continue to search for the stolen Fabergé items. Det Const Arben Morina, leading the investigation, remarked, “Conticello thought nothing of helping himself to someone else’s possessions, and he now faces a prison sentence as a result of his greed.”