Man steals purse from pub for simple money to seek out one thing price £2.2m inside
Enzo Conticello, 29, was sentenced to over two years in prison after stealing a Givenchy handbag from Rosie Dawson at the Dog and Duck pub in Soho, which contained an emerald Faberge egg
Enzo Conticello has been jailed(Image: PA)
A crook who nicked a handbag from a Soho pub, which held a Faberge egg and watch set worth up to three million dollars (£2.2million), has been sentenced to over two years in prison.
Enzo Conticello, 29, pinched the Givenchy handbag owned by Rosie Dawson while she was in the smoking area of the Dog and Duck pub on Bateman Street on November 7, 2024. Inside the £1,600 bag was an emerald-studded Faberge egg and Faberge watch belonging to Ms Dawson’s employers at the Craft Irish Whiskey Company.
Also inside was a £1,500 Apple laptop, Apple AirPods, a £350 shop voucher, keys, Ms Dawson’s three bank cards, £200 worth of cosmetics, a Mulberry card holder valued at £150, and £20 in cash. Southwark Crown Court heard on Thursday, April 9, that Conticello was after “easy money”, and he claims he handed over the bag – complete with the Faberge egg and watch – to purchase drugs.
Recorder Kate Livesey handed him a sentence of two years and three months behind bars, telling him the “opportunistic” theft had caused “inconvenience and stress” to Ms Dawson and her firm. She stated: “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.”
At a hearing in February, Conticello – also known as Hakin Boudjenoune – admitted guilt to three charges of fraud by false representation and one count of theft, reports the Express. He was connected to the handbag theft after attempting to use Ms Dawson’s stolen bank cards in a nearby shop within minutes of carrying out the crime.
Prosecutor Julian Winship told the sentencing hearing: “On November 7, 2024 at just before 10pm, (Ms Dawson) went to the Dog and Duck pub in Soho. She was outside the premises in the designated smoking area, she put her handbag on the ground in between her legs, and a few minutes later she noticed her handbag was no longer there.”
The court heard Ms Dawson had the Fabergé items in her handbag after she had taken them for display at a work event earlier that evening. Mr Winship said Conticello “wanted to obtain some easy cash”, and prosecutors accept he did not intend to steal the Fabergé egg and accompanying watch.
Insurers have paid out £106,700 to the drinks company for the loss, but the prosecutor said there are only seven Fabergé sets – containing a jewelled egg, watch, whisky bottle, cigars and humidor – in existence.
Three had been sold for between $2million to $3million each, and the company was seeking similar amounts for the remaining four sets. Conticello’s barrister, Katie Porter-Windley, told the court he previously worked as a chef but lost his job in the COVID-19 pandemic and slipped into cocaine addiction.
She stated: “On the night in question, it was a moment of opportunity which he took, and he is genuinely remorseful for his behaviour. He gave the bag to someone to purchase drugs. He had a cocaine addiction at the time.”
Within moments of her handbag being nicked, Ms Dawson received a fraud alert on her mobile at 10.12pm, indicating Conticello had attempted to use one of her bank cards for a £33.48 purchase at a shop on nearby Berwick Street.
Two more attempts were made to use her cards, at 11.30pm and 12.30am, but they had already been cancelled with the banks. “Early on Friday morning, the complainant received a message on social media from someone who had found her bank card on the ground between Soho and Charing Cross,” Mr Winship said.
Conticello was nicked for separate theft offences in Belfast in November 2025, over a year after the handbag theft, and was then connected to the 2024 crime. The court heard that the Faberge egg and watch have not been recovered, and Mr Winship said efforts to seek confiscation or compensation from Conticello will not be pursued.
“It appears to me unlikely that the defendant is a person of means able to satisfy either of these particular prosecutorial routes available to us,” said Mr Winship. Ms Porter-Windley told the court Conticello did not realise how valuable the items were that he had stolen.
When the judge commented that the egg is “quite extraordinary looking”, with an emerald forming part of its exterior, the defence barrister responded: “It is so extraordinary that he wouldn’t know on the face of it whether that was high value or not.” She stated Conticello was homeless at the time, and he is currently a “man of no means”.
The judge noted Conticello, of no fixed address, would typically have been ordered to pay £3,000 in compensation to Ms Dawson, but she would not enforce the order as he has no means to pay it. He is expected to serve up to half the prison term before being released on licence.
The Met Police announced it is still searching for the 10cm green and gold egg and accompanying watch. Detective Constable Arben Morina, who is heading 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.
“This theft has had a significant impact on the victim, who was on her way home from a work event when she was targeted. The defendant never explained to the police what he did with the expensive jewellery. Our investigation to find the egg and the watch is ongoing and we’d urge anyone with information to contact us.”
