The TOWIE-linked profession prison who robbed the wealthy and well-known: Burglar focused Hollywood star Anya Taylor-Joy in raid and held household at gunpoint of their £2.5m Sandbanks dwelling
With convictions dating back to his teenage years, a life sentence and an elaborate prison escape to his name, it is little surprise that career criminal Kirk Holdrick has been hauled back behind bars.
His eternal thirst for crime was laid bare during an ambitious nine-day spree when he tried to break into Hollywood star Anya Taylor-Joy‘s bedroom during an armed raid before holding a family at gunpoint in their £2.5million Sandbanks mansion.
Alongside targeting the rich and famous, the brazen thug has lived a colourful life – going by another alias, Aaron Evans, and mixing with reality TV stars, perhaps to mask his tarnished image.
In September 2022, just five months before he carried out the two high-profile robberies, he swapped mugshots for paparazzi shots as he was pictured walking hand-in-hand with The Only Way is Essex star Hannah Voyan.
The pair, who went on a string of dates, were enjoying a night out at Sexy Fish, in luxurious Mayfair, alongside other TOWIE stars. Donning a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans, he appeared a world away from the glamorous reality TV stars. He flashed a quick smile at the cameras, lapping up his taste of freedom after spending years serving a life sentence.
The prolific criminal, who is originally from Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, was previously arrested in May 2004 after attempting to rob a security van transporting cash and a jewellery store at gunpoint with an accomplice. Five months later, while on remand, he became the first prisoner to escape HMP Pentonville in ten years after scaling a 30ft wall and climbing through razor wire.
The ‘dangerous and determined’ criminal remained on the run for four weeks, carrying out three armed robberies before he was caught and jailed for life in 2005. Unable to abstain from his addiction to crime, Holdrick has now been recalled to prison to continue serving his life sentence after his latest offences.
Holdrick and an accomplice – who is still at large – first smashed their way into a luxury London property where Golden Globe winner Ms Taylor-Joy and her rockstar husband, Malcolm McRae, were staying on February 12 2023.
Anya Taylor-Joy and her rockstar husband, Malcolm McRae, pictured together last April. They were subjected to a terrifying attempted robbery at the hands of Holdrick
Kirk Holdrick, also known as Aaron Evans, is a prolific career criminal who has been locked up again. He is pictured when he was jailed for life in 2005 (left) and after his most recent offences (right)
In 2022, the criminal went on a string of dates with The Only Way is Essex Star Hannah Voyan (Pictured: The pair in Mayfair, London)
Armed with a crowbar, he attempted to force the door of the actress’s bedroom open – a move prosecutors indicated the burglars were intending to target the actress.
During the terrifying ordeal, Mr McRae barricaded himself and Taylor-Joy, 29, inside one of the bedrooms, and scared the masked thugs away by repeatedly shouting ‘I have a gun’.
And while Holdrick fled the property empty-handed it did not deter them from setting their sights on the family of a wealthy company director in the millionaire’s playground of Sandbanks, in Poole, Dorset.
The career criminal was arrested on April 18 2023 after stepping off a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool. He claimed his DNA was left behind because he had previously been a guest at a party at the property.
Just nine days after the London break-in, Holdrick launched a second home invasion in which a mother and daughter were held at gunpoint, tied up and threatened with violence.
He and his accomplice, Ashley Fulton, disguised themselves as police officers as they targeted the £2.5milliion mansion owned by wealthy businessman Mark Aitchison.
Here, they held his wife and daughter, Kerry and Emily Aitchison, at gunpoint, threatening to burn Emily with an iron and also shoot her mother in front of her if she did not open the safe.
However, Kerry, 55, bravely refused to give either the code, branding them the ‘scum of the earth’.
Holdrick and Fulton went on to ransack the mansion with more than £200,000 worth of luxury watches, designer handbags and cash, but left a trail of DNA behind.
Police traced the getaway vehicle and recovered vapes from it. In November, Holdrick was jailed for 12 years for the Sandbanks robbery and a further four years on licence if he is released.
He was handed a further three-year custodial sentence after admitting to the burglary of Ms Taylor-Joy.
Anya Taylor-Joy puts on a brave face at the 2023 BAFTA Awards – just days after her attempted robbery ordeal
Nine days later, Holdrick struck again. Pictured: The £2.5 million property where he and his accomplice Ashley Fulton tied up and threatened to shoot the wife and daughter of a wealthy company director
Pictured: The Aitchison family leaving Bournemouth Crown Court. Parents Mark and Kerry Aitchison (right) along with Emily and William
The Golden Globe winner, known for The Queen’s Gambit, the Dune films and Peaky Blinders, attended the Baftas red carpet just a week after the robbery.
At the time of the break in, which happened at around 1am in February 2023, the Queen’s Gambit actress, her husband and his More bandmate, Kane Ritchotte heard the glass in a side door smash.
McRae went to investigate when he saw Holdrick and his co-conspirator – both balaclava-clad – forcing their way into the property, the singer and guitarist shouted ‘hey, stop’ before retreating.
He ran back to the bedroom where he and his wife were staying, locked the door and told Taylor-Joy to hide behind the bed.
McRae then armed himself with a lamp as the intruders started to force the bedroom door open with a crowbar.
The rockstar shouted out that he had a gun, the thieves appeared to stop their efforts to break-in, and after a brief discussion among themselves about a gun, they fled.
When Metropolitan Police officers arrived, Taylor-Joy and McRae were still barricaded inside the bedroom, with damage done to the door frame.
The couple told police they had been traumatised by the ordeal, and feared being targeted again in future.
CCTV footage captured the moment Holdrick and his accomplice scaled a wall to the home, triggering an external security light, and became ‘startled’.
Holdrick left his DNA on the back door, while shoe prints from his trainers were found outside the bedroom door.
He was arrested on April 18, 2023 after stepping off a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool, and denied being responsible for the burglary.
When Holdrick was sentenced by Judge Barbara Mensah, prosecutors highlighted the fame of Ms Taylor-Joy and her husband, and argued the raid may have been ‘targeted’ as Holdrick headed to the bedroom rather than stealing expensive items from the rest of the home.
In the early stages of the case, Holdrick’s lawyers tried to convince the Crown Prosecution Service to drop the burglary charge since he is already serving a life sentence and had admitted the Sandbanks robbery offences.
But the CPS insisted on continuing the case, arguing that the London burglary may have been part of an escalating pattern.
Nine days after the thwarted raid on Taylor-Joy and McRae, Holdrick and Fulton dressed as police officers and armed themselves with an imitation firearm as they targeted the home of wealthy businessman Mark Aitchison.
Nine days later, Holdrick teamed up with an accomplice, Ashley Fulton, pictured, to strike again, in a second home invasion in which a woman and her daughter were held at gunpoint
They barged in on Mr Aitchison’s wife, Kerry, used cable ties to restrain her, and told her she would be killed if she did not open the family safe.
When the couple’s daughter Emily arrived home unexpectedly, she was also seized by the robbers, dragged by her hair, and threatened with a gun, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.
The intruders threatened to shoot her in front of her mother and asked where they kept the iron, telling her: ‘We want to burn you.’
And despite Mrs Aitchinson refusing to give them the code, the robbers fled with about £200,000 of luxury watches, designer handbags, jewellery and cash.
However, the bungling robbers made a series of errors which led police to their door.
They left behind a trail of DNA at the scene, and police traced the getaway car and recovered vapes the two men had been using inside the vehicle.
Mobile phone records later showed Fulton had Googled the exact rare model of Patek Philippe watch they had stolen two hours after the heist.
Police also found online orders made by Fulton for police ID wallets and lanyards the pair used to trick their way into the Aitchison home.
Holdrick has convictions dating back to when he was a teenager, including burglaries and was on licence at the time of the Sandbanks raid.
The court heard he had 22 previous convictions for 110 offences.
He pleaded guilty in Bournemouth to two counts of robbery, possession of an imitation firearm, and fraud.
Holdrick was ordered to serve 12 years in prison for that offence, alongside his life sentence, and he was given four extra years on licence if he is set free.
