Tamara Ecclestone, the daughter of ex-Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, has offered a reward of up to £6m for information that may lead to the recovery of some of her “most precious” belongings stolen in 2019.
The 38-year-old was on holiday in Lapland with her husband, their daughter and their dog, when the £25m jewel heist occurred in their 57-room Kensington mansion, on 13 December 2019.
During a trial last year, Isleworth crown court heard how Ecclestone was left “scared” and “obsessing over security” after her mansion was ransacked of cash, jewellery and gems.
Thought to be Britain’s most lucrative burglary spree, it was the subject of a BBC Three documentary, Who Stole Tamara Ecclestone’s Diamonds?
In a series of posts on her Instagram story shared on Sunday, the 38-year-old socialite said she was “going Mel Gibson-style from the movie Ransom” in an attempt to get some of her items back, having “waited long enough” to do so by conventional means.
“The thought of those disgusting people, rummaging through every room in my house, invading my home, touching my belongings and stealing some of the things most precious to me, means I will never be able to lay my head to rest in that house again with the same sense of security that I once had,” she wrote.
Ecclestone said her daughter “still asks if the burglars are coming back and won’t sleep alone”.
Three members of a gang were jailed in November 2021 for the burglaries. Daniel Vukovic, a Serbian national named in court as a suspected fourth member of the gang, is thought to have fled to Belgrade where Serbian authorities have refused to allow him to be extradited to face trial in London.
Other than a single pair of £6,000 earrings seized from an escort who was arrested in January 2020 at Stansted airport, Ecclestone said none of her family’s stolen possessions had been found, and that it was likely she woud never see them again.
The socialite offered £250,000 to anyone who could deliver Vukovic to the police in London. “This man thinks he can ride off into the sunset with all the spoils from robbing my family and I,” Ecclestone wrote on Instagram. “Not so fast.”
Police said the gang responsible is believed to have carried out similar crimes against high-profile victims across Europe and had planned to commit further raids on the rich and famous in the UK.
Other victims included the former England footballer Frank Lampard and his TV presenter wife, Christine, whose Chelsea home was robbed of £60,000 of watches and jewellery while they were away.
Ecclestone said she would “happily” offer a reward of 25% of the value of anything the police recover from information brought forward. A reward could amount to up to £6m.
The Metropolitan police said their inquiries are continuing, and that detectives from their specialist crime department are seeking Vukovic.
