man who smashed into former English footballer’s house Ashley Cole and threatened to cut off his fingers, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Kurtis Dilks was part of a four-piece gang who carried out the terrifying attack in January 2020, in which the player thought he would die.
Dilks, 35, was sentenced Friday afternoon at Nottingham Crown Court.
Ex-Arsenal, Chelsea and Derby defender Cole said the “scare and confusion” on his children’s faces when a gang of men broke into his house, tied him up and threatened to cut his fingers “will never leave me”.
Read by a prosecutor, the former fullback said in his statement: “The image of that night remains and affects everything.
“The fear and confusion on my children’s faces is something that will never leave me.
“These images and thoughts will never, ever disappear from my head and can pop up at any moment.”
He described how he has invested heavily in the security of his home in Fetcham, Surrey, to the point that it “feels like a fortress”, but said he still can’t go to the bin without a torch and his watchdog.
Cole’s partner Sharon Canu was in court on Friday to hear her statement read by prosecutor Michael Brady QC.
She described in her document how the robbery had a “huge impact” on her life, and recalled trying to hide in a wardrobe with her son while her husband was tied up and pleaded with her daughter for comfort.
Mrs. Canu said, “That will never leave me.”
She said she still doesn’t feel safe despite the dogs, panic alarms and fences installed on their property.
Ms Canu said they had considered moving, but “the truth is the feelings and the fear would be there wherever the house was”.
Dilks’ trial heard Cole tell police he thought “now I’m going to die,” recalling how the masked robbers tied his hands behind his back despite holding his young daughter.
Dilks was the only one of the gang responsible for the heist who was caught after his DNA was found on the zip ties used to stop Cole and Mrs. Canu.
He was convicted along with five others for their roles in a series of what prosecutors said were “ruthlessly carried out” robberies and burglaries between October 2018 and January 2020.
In addition to the assault on Cole, Dilks was found guilty of conspiracy to rob the wife of former Tottenham, Hull and Derby midfielder Tom Huddlestone in May 2019 with co-defendants Ashley Cumberpatch and Andrew MacDonald.
The trio were also convicted of being part of the theft of a £3.5 million tiara worn at Edward VII’s coronation of the Harley Gallery on the Welbeck Estate in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in 2018.
Cole was not in court on Friday.
Dilks, dressed in an orange and black patterned shirt and mask, sat with five other defendants in the glass dock, staring straight ahead as he listened to the declarations of impact.
More to come.