A thug sentenced to 30 years in prison for breaking into the home of former England defender Ashley Cole and threatening to cut off his fingers.
Kurtis Dilks, 35, was sentenced to five years in prison and an extended license today at Nottingham Crown Court.
Cole previously said that the “fear and astonishment” on his kids’ faces when the gang of guys forced their way into his house, bound him up, and then made their terrible threat “would never leave me” will be imprinted on his memory.
Judge James Sampson complimented Cole, his partner Sharon Canu, and all the other gang victim’s “courage and tenacity.”
The psychological impact on Mr. Cole and Ms. Canu, like with all of your victims, cannot be emphasized, he warned Kurtis Dilks.
The judge described the gang as “clever, ferocious, and chillingly vicious men” and said the attack on the footballer’s home was “very horrifying” in Nottingham Crown Court.
Cole stated in a statement that was earlier read out by a prosecutor on Friday: “The memory of that night endures and affects everything.”
“I shall never forget the dread and perplexity on the faces of my children.”
These pictures and ideas will never, ever leave my head and they can appear at any time.
He explained how much protection he had put into his Fetcham, Surrey, house, to the point that it “feels like a fortress,” yet he insisted that he still can’t step outside to the trash without a torch and his guard dog.
Sharon Canu, Cole’s partner, was present in court on Friday to hear prosecutor Michael Brady QC read her statement as well.
She recalled trying to hide in a closet with her kid as her husband was bound up and her daughter begged for comfort as she detailed the “great impact” the raid had on her life in her affidavit.
That will never leave me, said Ms. Canu.
She claimed that even though their property has dogs, panic alarms, and fences, she still doesn’t feel secure.
The truth is that the emotions and the anxiety would persist regardless of where the house was, Ms. Canu said, adding that they had thought about moving.
Cole testified at Dilks’ trial that while the masked invaders bound his hands behind his back while he was carrying his little daughter, he thought, “Now I am going to die.”
After his DNA was found on the cable ties used to confine Cole and Ms. Canu, Dilks was the only member of the gang responsible for the crime to be apprehended.
Together with five other people, he was found guilty of participating in a series of thefts and burglaries that the prosecution described as being “ruthlessly performed” between October 2018 and January 2020.
Along with the assault on Cole, Dilks and co-defendants Ashley Cumberpatch and Andrew MacDonald were also found guilty of plotting to rob the wife of former Tottenham, Hull, and Derby midfielder Tom Huddlestone in May 2019.
Additionally, the trio was found guilty of participating in the theft of an Edward VII coronation tiara valued at £3.5 million from the Harley Gallery on the Welbeck Estate in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in 2018.
On Friday, Cole did not appear in court.
Dilks sat in the glass-fronted dock with five other defendants, wearing a mask and an orange and black striped blouse.
He was listening intently to the impact statements while maintaining a straight face.