Thief Jailed for Stealing £2.2 Million Faberge Egg from Soho Pub
A man who stole a handbag containing a Faberge egg and watch set valued at £2.2 million has been sent to prison for more than two years. Enzo Conticello, 29, took the handbag belonging to Rosie Dawson as she stood in the smoking area of the Dog and Duck pub in Soho on 7 November 2024.
Opportunistic Theft for Drug Money
On Thursday, Southwark Crown Court heard that Conticello was after "easy money", and he said he handed over the bag – complete with the Faberge egg and watch – to buy drugs. Recorder Kate Livesey sentenced him to two years and three months in prison, telling him the "opportunistic" theft had caused "inconvenience and stress" to Ms Dawson and her company.
"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," the judge said.
Valuable Contents of the Stolen Bag
Inside the £1,600 Givenchy bag was an emerald-encrusted Faberge egg and Faberge watch, which belonged to Ms Dawson’s employers at the Craft Irish Whiskey Company. The court heard Ms Dawson had the Faberge items in her handbag after she had taken them for display at a work event earlier that evening.
The bag also contained:
- A £1,500 Apple laptop
- Apple AirPods
- A £350 store voucher
- Keys and Ms Dawson’s three bank cards
- £200 worth of make-up
- A Mulberry card holder worth £150
- £20 in cash
Fraudulent Card Use and Arrest
Conticello was linked to the handbag theft after trying to use Ms Dawson’s stolen bank cards in a nearby shop within minutes of committing the crime. Prosecutor Julian Winship told the sentencing hearing that Ms Dawson received a fraud alert on her phone at 10.12pm, showing Conticello had tried to use one of her bank cards for a £33.48 purchase at a shop in nearby Berwick Street.
Two further attempts were made to use her cards at 11.30pm and 12.30am, but they had already been cancelled with the banks. Conticello was arrested for separate theft offences in Belfast in November 2025, more than a year after the handbag theft, and was then linked to the 2024 crime.
Defence Arguments and Sentencing
At a hearing in February, Conticello – also known as Hakin Boudjenoune – pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud by false representation and one count of theft. His barrister, Katie Porter-Windley, told the court he previously worked as a chef but lost his job in the Covid pandemic and slipped into cocaine addiction.
"On the night in question, it was a moment of opportunity which he took, and he is genuinely remorseful for his behaviour," she said. "He gave the bag to someone to purchase drugs. He had a cocaine addiction at the time."
Ms Porter-Windley told the court that Conticello did not realise how valuable the items were that he had stolen. When the judge remarked the egg is "quite extraordinary looking", with an emerald forming part of its exterior, the defence barrister replied: "It is so extraordinary that he wouldn’t know on the face of it whether that was high value or not."
Financial Losses and Recovery Efforts
Insurers have paid out £106,700 to the drinks company for the loss, but the prosecutor said there are only seven Faberge sets – containing a jewelled egg, watch, cigars and humidor – in existence. Three had been sold for between two to three million dollars, and the company was seeking similar amounts for the remaining four sets.
The court heard 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.
The judge said Conticello, of no fixed address, would ordinarily have been ordered to pay £3,000 in compensation to Ms Dawson, but she would not make the order as he has no way of paying it. He is set to serve up to half the prison term before being released on licence.
