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Primrose Hill gang raid Gwen Stefani's mansion
Mark Blunden28 Sep 2009
Burglars battered their way into Gwen Stefani's London mansion block in a daring raid.
The front door of the £4m house in Primrose Hill was smashed open on Saturday night while the singer was at a concert in Singapore. The robbers broke into a ground-floor flat that the star lets out to Dame Elizabeth Forgan, head of the Arts Council.
They were unable to break into the flat shared by Stefani, her husband Gavin Rossdale and their two children.
Police sources said the burglars were thwarted as it was a “very secure venue”.
It is thought they made off with jewellery belonging to Dame Elizabeth who was also out at the time. The raid happened at around 11.30pm. A neighbour said: “We heard a loud crashing sound but thought it was our sons and their friends in the basement.
Despite the door being badly damaged, no one noticed for another 12 hours until a passer-by raised the alarm and flagged down a police car.
They added: “I can't believe no one else noticed.”
Stefani, 39, was in Singapore playing with her group No Doubt at the F1 Rocks concert over the weekend, alongside bands including Beyoncé and Black Eyed Peas.
Rossdale, 43, who fronts rock group Bush, and Stefani, live in the top floors of the house with their sons, Kingston, three, and Zuma, one. The rocker owns the freehold on the block.
Their neighbours include Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools and James Bond actor Daniel Craig.
Dame Elizabeth, 65, who was managing director of BBC Radio in the Nineties, said she was “coping”.
She added she was speaking to her insurance company to assess the damage.
Reader views (1)
Where were the police while this was going on? Sorry, I forgot. They were busy chasing the "Space Hijackers" for their April Fools joke.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands, 28/09/2009 14:50
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