E-Paper
Man who tried to force his way into Anya Taylor-Joy’s bedroom during London burglary jailed
Holdrick admitted the London burglary and was handed a further three-year custodial sentence.
It was a split-second decision. As masked raiders smashed their way into the property, a man ran back to the bedroom and barricaded himself and his wife inside – armed only with a lamp – while the intruders tried to prise open the door, according to Sky News.
The couple were Anya Taylor-Joy, the Golden Globe-winning Hollywood star known for The Queen’s Gambit, the Dune films and Peaky Blinders, and her husband, Malcolm McRae.
One of the burglars, Kirk Holdrick, 43, from Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, has since been jailed on Tuesday, according to a BBC report.
Described as a career criminal with convictions dating back to his teenage years, Holdrick admitted the London burglary and was handed a further three-year custodial sentence, on top of a 12-year term imposed in November for a separate violent home invasion in Dorset.
Retreated to bedroom, scared the masked men
Wood Green Crown Court heard they were staying at the property on 12 February 2023 when the break-in took place.
McRae had confronted two masked men after hearing glass from a side window being smashed. He then retreated with his wife to the bedroom, where the intruders attempted to force their way in. By bluffing that he had a gun, McRae managed to scare the men off, prompting them to flee empty-handed.
Also Read | Anya Taylor-Joy, Zendaya reunite in Budapest as filming kicks off for Dune: Part Three
Prosecutors said the burglary may have been a targeted raid, noting that the intruders did not simply steal high-value items and suggesting they intended to target the celebrities personally, the report added.
The couple later told police they were traumatised by the ordeal and feared being targeted again. Taylor-Joy appeared on the Baftas red carpet just a week later.
Holdrick was arrested on 18 April 2023 after stepping off a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool. He initially claimed his DNA was at the London property because he had previously attended a party there, but later abandoned the defence and pleaded guilty in mid-December last year.
Another London-break in, same burglar
Just nine days after the London break-in, Holdrick took part in another home invasion in Sandbanks, overlooking Poole Harbour in Dorset.
Disguised as police officers, he and his accomplice, Ashley Fulton, targeted the home of wealthy businessman Mark Aitchison.
During that raid, Aitchison’s wife Kerry was told she would be killed if she did not open the family safe. When their daughter Emily arrived home unexpectedly, she was also restrained and threatened. The intruders told her they would shoot her in front of her mother and demanded to know where the iron was, saying: “We want to burn you.”
The pair escaped with £200,000 worth of luxury watches, designer handbags, jewellery and cash, but left behind a trail of DNA. Police later traced the getaway car and recovered vapes from the vehicle.
Holdrick, who had previously briefly dated one of the cast members from The Only Way Is Essex, was jailed for life in 2005 for armed robberies on a security van. He has now been recalled to prison to continue serving that life sentence.
In November, he was jailed for 12 years for the Sandbanks robbery and given a further four years on licence if released, after pleading guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court to two counts of robbery, possession of an imitation firearm and fraud.
