More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A former brothel madam has been jailed for seven years for her part in a terrifying robbery... in which the wrong house was targeted.
Maxine Soper, 31, wore a high visibility vest and carried a clipboard - pretending to be making a parcel delivery - when she and three men burst into the family home near Bluewater shopping centre in Greenhithe.
They demanded to know where a stash of drugs, cash and gold were kept - but left with just £140 and a French driving licence and ID card.
They belonged to Oladele Awujoola, from Paris, who was visiting his brother Michael at the house in Waterstone Park on February 6 this year.
Soper, of Benhill Avenue, Sutton, Surrey, denied robbery but was convicted.
Michael Awujoola, who described himself as a music celebrity entertainer, said his wife Laura and four-year-old son were also at home when the intruders arrived.
He was in his office there, he said, and was expecting a delivery. He heard the doorbell at about 1pm and looked out but could not see anybody.
Mr Awujoola said he looked through the door spy hole and saw a man and a girl.
"I unlocked the door and it was smashed in," he told a jury at Maidstone Crown Court. "I was in shock because I didn't know what was happening. They were shouting: 'Move, move, move.'"
One man pushed him into the living room, while two black men went upstairs.
"The man was asking for money and drugs," he said. "My wife was in the dining room. She was shocked. My son was on the sofa. I said: 'You have come to the wrong house. We don't have what you want.'
"My wife tried to call the police. The man grabbed the phone from her. My son started crying."
Bridget Todd, prosecuting, said the two men who went upstairs pushed Oladele Awujoola and ordered him to sit down. He thought it was a police raid and did as he was told.
But they then asked where the money and "stash" was. The bathroom door was locked and after demanding the keys they kicked it in.
They went through Mr Awujoola's £400 Gucci bag and took some of the contents. All four eventually fled.
Soper's fingerprints were left on a door and she was arrested. No other arrests have been made.
Judge Martin Joy said Soper was convicted on overwhelming evidence. She had previous convictions for keeping a brothel in 2007 and a drugs conspiracy in 2005.
"You were part of a plan for a violent robbery and the wrong house was targeted," he said.
"It was a shocking and vicious attack. You knew what was going on. You failed to identify the others, even though you said you were in a sexual relationship with one of them. I accept you were not personally involved in the violence."
