He was arrested for separate theft offences in Belfast in November 2025
Abigail Hunt, Oliver Radcliffe Live News Reporter and Alice Scarsi
15:57, 09 Apr 2026Updated 16:15, 09 Apr 2026
Enzo Conticello has been jailed(Image: PA)
A thief who was arrested in Belfast after snatching a handbag containing a Faberge egg and watch set valued at up to three million dollars, has been jailed for more than two years.
Enzo Conticello, 29, stole the Givenchy handbag belonging to Rosie Dawson while she was in the smoking area of the Dog and Duck pub on Bateman Street on November 7, 2024. The £1,600 bag contained an emerald-studded Faberge egg and Faberge watch owned by Ms Dawson’s employers at the Craft Irish Whiskey Company.
Conticello was arrested for separate theft offences in Belfast in November 2025, more than a year after the handbag theft, and was subsequently linked to the 2024 crime. The court was told that the Faberge egg and watch have not been recovered, and Mr Winship indicated that efforts to pursue confiscation or compensation from Conticello will not be taken forward.
The Met Police said it is continuing to hunt for the watch and egg(Image: PA)
“It appears to me unlikely that the defendant is a person of means able to satisfy either of these particular prosecutorial routes available to us,” Mr Winship noted. Ms Porter-Windley informed the court that Conticello was unaware of the true value of the items he had stolen.
When the judge remarked that the egg is “quite extraordinary looking”, noting an emerald incorporated into its exterior, the defence barrister replied: “It is so extraordinary that he wouldn’t know on the face of it whether that was high value or not.” She explained Conticello was without a home at the time, and remains a “man of no means”.
The judge observed that Conticello, of no fixed abode, would ordinarily have been required to pay £3,000 in compensation to Ms Dawson, but she declined to enforce the order given his inability to pay. He’s anticipated to serve up to half his sentence before being released on licence.
The Met Police confirmed they’re continuing to search for the 10cm green and gold egg and the accompanying watch. Detective Constable Arben Morina, leading the investigation, commented: “Conticello thought nothing of helping himself to someone else’s possessions, and he now faces a prison sentence as a result of his greed.
“This theft has had a significant impact on the victim, who was on her way home from a work event when she was targeted. The defendant never explained to the police what he did with the expensive jewellery. Our investigation to find the egg and the watch is ongoing and we’d urge anyone with information to contact us.”
The bag also held a £1,500 Apple laptop, Apple AirPods, a £350 shop voucher, keys, Ms Dawson’s three bank cards, £200 worth of cosmetics, a Mulberry card holder worth £150, and £20 in cash. Southwark Crown Court was told on Thursday, April 9, that Conticello was seeking “easy money”, and he alleges he traded the bag – including the Faberge egg and watch – to buy drugs.
Recorder Kate Livesey sentenced him to two years and three months imprisonment, noting the “opportunistic” theft had caused “inconvenience and stress” to Ms Dawson and her company.
She said: “Ms Dawson described the particular shock and panic upon realising a bag containing items of such particular value owned by the company had been stolen, and the incredible stress this incident has caused her.”
During a February hearing, Conticello – who also goes by the name Hakin Boudjenoune – pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation and one charge of theft.
He was linked to the handbag theft after trying to use Ms Dawson’s stolen bank cards at a shop nearby just moments after committing the offence.
Prosecutor Julian Winship informed the sentencing hearing: “On November 7, 2024 at just before 10pm, (Ms Dawson) went to the Dog and Duck pub in Soho. She was outside the premises in the designated smoking area, she put her handbag on the ground in between her legs, and a few minutes later she noticed her handbag was no longer there.”, reports the Daily Star.
The Faberge egg set is valued up to £2.2m(Image: PA)
The court was told Ms Dawson had been carrying the Fabergé pieces in her handbag following their display at a work function earlier that same evening.
Mr Winship stated Conticello “wanted to obtain some easy cash”, with prosecutors acknowledging he hadn’t intended to steal the Fabergé egg and its accompanying watch.
Insurance companies have settled £106,700 with the drinks firm for the loss, though the prosecutor highlighted that only seven Fabergé collections – comprising a jewelled egg, watch, whisky bottle, cigars and humidor – exist worldwide.
Three had already been purchased for between $2million and $3million apiece, with the company pursuing comparable sums for the four remaining sets. Conticello’s barrister, Katie Porter-Windley, revealed to the court he had previously been employed as a chef but lost his position during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently developed a cocaine dependency.
She explained: “On the night in question, it was a moment of opportunity which he took, and he is genuinely remorseful for his behaviour. He gave the bag to someone to purchase drugs. He had a cocaine addiction at the time.”
Shortly after her handbag was stolen, Ms Dawson received a fraud alert on her phone at 10.12pm, showing that Conticello had tried to use one of her bank cards for a £33.48 transaction at a shop on nearby Berwick Street.
Two further attempts were made to use her cards, at 11.30pm and 12.30am, but they had already been blocked by the banks. “Early on Friday morning, the complainant received a message on social media from someone who had found her bank card on the ground between Soho and Charing Cross,” Mr Winship stated.
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