More on KentOnline
Two men are facing sentence over the burglary of a reality star’s home and theft of her expensive car.
Nicholas Cato, 31, had admitted burglary and theft on the fourth day of the trial.
Jayd Gordon, 30, was convicted of theft and cleared of burglary. He denied both charges.
TOWIE and Ex on the Beach personality Nicole Bass was on holiday in Las Vegas when her flat in Dartford was broken into and trashed.
Maidstone Crown Court heard the flat in Creek Mill Way was trashed in the break-in.
Heads were chopped off soft toys on her bed and paint, food and other items were thrown around.
She returned to her rented flat from holiday earlier than planned on June 9 last year because of an accident.
She saw that her £30,000 Mercedes GLA AMG was missing from the underground car park and then found her flat had been extensively damaged.
Miss Bass, who has a social media following of 500,000, said of her car being missing: “I was just completely baffed (sic). I was thinking: Where has my car gone?”
She said of the damage caused to the second floor flat: “It was trashed. It wasn’t just as if they burgled my flat, they had absolutely violated it.”
She added she was so upset that they she immediately moved out and sold her car.
Property including designer clothes, a Rolex watch and Pandora jewellery was stolen.
Automatic number plate recognition cameras showed the stolen car, in convoy with a VW Tiguan, was moving between Dartford and London on June 8 and 9.
The VW was stopped in Sydenham on June 13. Gordon was the driver and Cato a passenger. The car belonged to Gordon’s girlfriend.
“This was the organised theft of a high value vehicle, and the target vehicle was known, but this defendant had no knowledge as to the burglary or how the theft was going to happen...” - Judge Philip St John-Stevens
The stolen Mercedes was found in Sydenham on June 23.
Cato’s phone had pictures of some of the stolen clothes on it. Prosecutor Nina Ellin suggested they had been photographed so that they could be sold.
Gordon claimed in evidence he was not aware of Miss Bass. “I have never known about her until this trial,” he said.
He denied seeing photos of the 26-year-old reality star posing in Las Vegas on her Instagram account.
Gordon admitted he was with Cato throughout on two journeys to Dartford on June 8.
“He asked me to drop him off in Dartford to meet a friend and a few lady friends,” he said.
Gordon said he was offered petrol money to drive Cato in the VW. They pulled up in a cul-de-sac but the friend was not there.
They returned to Lewisham. Cato, he said, wanted to return to Dartford as the friend would be there.
They went to the same road and the friend got into the car. Two women arrived.
Gordon claimed the other man and the two women “went out of sight” for about 20 minutes before returning in a Mercedes.
“I got out at looked at it,” he continued. “It was brand new. I liked the car. I looked inside. I said: ‘It looks nice.’ I got back in the Tiguan.
“My co-defendant basically told me ‘Let’s go’. The man and two women got into the Mercedes. We were probably doing 90mph. The Mercedes was going fast as it overtook me.
“I was trying to beat it, but I couldn’t. We made our way to London. The Mercedes ended up being parked in Brockley.
“The two females left the vicinity. His friend got back into my vehicle. They gave me some (petrol) money. Mr Cato gave me probably £10 in change. His friend gave me a number of coins and a note as well. It seemed like more than 40 quid in total.”
“All options are open up to and including imprisonment. My mind is completely open...” - Judge Philip St John-Stevens
When arrested on June 13, Gordon said he declined to give police his phone PIN because he had intimate photos of him and his partner on it.
“I initially didn’t want to say anything to incriminate myself or anybody,” he said. “I hadn’t done a burglary.”
He claimed he did not know Cato had been involved in the burglary.
“Generally, I was caught by shock,” he said. “I didn’t know what to say.”
He told police: “I am absolutely shell shocked. It’s sick man.”
He told the jury: “I had a feeling of revulsion. It is horrible. I didn’t know the burglary and theft had taken place.”
Cato, of Africa Road, Brockley, south London, and Gordon, of Braidwood Road, Catford, south east London, will be sentenced in the week beginning July 2. Bail was continued.
Judge Philip St John-Stevens said of Gordon after the jury’s 10-2 verdict on the theft charge: “This was the organised theft of a high value vehicle, and the target vehicle was known, but this defendant had no knowledge as to the burglary or how the theft was going to happen.”
He added: “All options are open up to and including imprisonment. My mind is completely open.”