Pub thief jailed over £2.2m Fabergé theft

Pub thief jailed over £2.2m Fabergé theft

A thief described as opportunistic stole a handbag containing an emerald-encrusted Fabergé egg and a watch set valued at up to £2.2 million from a pub in central London, resulting in a two-year-plus prison sentence. Enzo Conticello, 29, took Rosie Dawson’s handbag, which she had placed between her legs on the ground outside the Dog and Duck pub in Soho on November 7, 2024.

The Fabergé items were inside her handbag after she retrieved them for a work display earlier that same evening. They have not been recovered. Conticello, also known as Hakin Boudjenoune, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court following his guilty plea to three fraud charges and one theft count.

Conticello’s barrister, Katie Porter-Windley, stated he had once worked as a chef but lost his job during the pandemic, leading to a cocaine addiction. “On the night in question, it was a moment of opportunity he seized, and he genuinely regrets his actions,” she explained. Porter-Windley noted Conticello was unaware of the items’ value, adding that the egg’s striking appearance might have misled him.

“On the face of it, he wouldn’t know whether that was high value or not,” said Porter-Windley.

Prosecutor Julian Winship emphasized that only seven Fabergé sets, each comprising a jeweled egg, watch, whiskey bottle, cigars, and humidor, exist globally. Insurers paid out £106,700 to Dawson’s employers at the Craft Irish Whiskey Company for the loss.

Conticello was arrested for separate theft offences in Belfast in November 2025, over a year after the handbag theft, and later connected to the 2024 crime through his use of Dawson’s bank cards in a nearby shop shortly after the incident. Recorder Kate Livesey remarked that the theft caused “inconvenience and stress” to Dawson and her company, highlighting the “opportunistic” nature of the crime.

“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,” Livesey noted.

Policemen continue their search for the stolen egg and watch. Det Con Arben Morina, leading the investigation, stated: “Conticello thought nothing of helping himself to someone else’s possessions, and he now faces a prison sentence as a result of his greed.”