Two Corby men sentenced after art worth £1.6m stolen from stately home of multi-millionaire David Ross
A jaw-dropping burglary case has ended with five men walking free after one trial collapsed, and a second ended in not guilty verdicts.
The incredible £4m case saw works of art worth £1.6m ripped from walls in a smash and grab at Nevill Holt Hall, clothing worth £250k taken from Corby’s Joules warehouse, expensive machinery driven from building sites, £20,000 of coca-cola drinks stolen, and a £170k Range Rover belonging to an entrepreneur swiped from a Notting Hill street.
The paintings are still missing, and the man who knows where they are, Adel Chouhaib, has declined to give any clues to their whereabouts.
Five men were originally charged with conspiracy to carry out 22 burglaries between 2020 and 2022, and their case went before Northampton Crown Court in Summer 2023.
Adel Chouhaib, 46, of Bede Close, Corby; Barry Mitchell, 45, of Carmarthen Way, Rushden; Robert Mitchell, 40, of London Road, Raunds; Suray Hamdi, 49, of Chain Close, Peterborough; and William Edward Castle, 35, of Horselease Close, Great Oakley all stood trial. Chouhaib was also accused of handling stolen goods, with regard to the theft of the paintings from Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross.
‘This was a sophisticated offence’
Our reporters covered the case before it dramatically collapsed after His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo raised concerns over the evidence pointing toward a conspiracy.
Prosecution barristers went to the Court of Appeal to ask senior judges to reconsider the decision, and they ordered a retrial.
The case against Robert Mitchell was dismissed, and Castle pleaded guilty to one burglary, but the other three men were back for a second trial at Northampton Crown Court at the beginning of this year. That ended with not guilty verdicts.
But Chouhaib had already pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods over the paintings and other items, and Castle to burglary with regard to the theft of £76k of clothes from Flannels at Rushden Lakes as well as many other items.
Both men were before Judge Mayo on Friday (September 12) to face sentence. Co-accused Barry Mitchell, who was found not guilty, was in the public gallery to watch the hearing. All three men looked relaxed and were happily chatting in the waiting room before the hearing began.
Prosecutor Dee Tor, outlining the case, said that the paintings were stolen from Nevill Holt in April 2019, while Mr Ross – the man behind the David Ross Education Trust and a pal of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson – was on holiday.
His house manager was alerted and came to look what was going on.
Mr Tor said: “He noticed the burglar was still present trying to escape. They entered by smashing a window.
"This was a sophisticated offence because the paintings were specifically targeted by the intruders. Nothing else was stolen.”
‘It’s in the works’
The items stolen were;
- A £500,000 painting by renowned British artist Sir Howard Hodgkin entitled ‘Small Staff Room’.
- A Gilbert & George photo worth £2,000.
- A 1961 Sir Peter Blake work called ‘La Vern Baker’ worth £400,000.
- A piece called ‘Custom Painting No 6’ by Peter Philips worth £155,000.
- A second Sir Howard Hodgkin called ‘Gardens’, from 1961, worth £500,000.
Months later, the paintings came into Chouhaib’s possession, and phone messages showed that he was attempting to offload them.
In February 2021 Chouhaib messaged a contact asking whether a buyer has been found and was told it was ‘in the works’.
He offered to ‘bring them to Spain’ but then decided to store them in the UK.
When he was finally arrested his phone was analysed, and messages were found that showed he had also been in possession of a portion of the £250,000 worth of clothes stolen from the Joules warehouse in Corby in November 2019.
When Chouhaib’s properties were raided, including one in Birmingham and one in Corby, police found Joules clothing worth £17,000 and £30,000 in cash.
The paintings have never been recovered, and Judge Mayo previously told Chouhaib that if he was willing to reveal the whereabouts of the artworks that Mr Ross would be ‘very pleased to know they were still in existence’.
Chouhaib has declined to say where the art is now.
Former drug smuggler
Castle, known locally as Billy, admitted two counts of theft in connection with an incident where clothing worth £74,000 was taken from Flannels at Rushden Lakes, the theft of a JCB telehandler from Desborough, a digger from Stamford and a truck-load of coca-cola products.
At Friday’s sentencing, Castle wore a blue tracksuit and had grown his ginger hair down past his shoulders.
Chouhaib was dressed in a leather jacket and has cut off the hair he grew long while he was on remand for 911 days awaiting, and during, his trials. He was released on licence in May this year after the latest trial ended.
During the first trial, the jury heard phonecalls made by William Castle while he was in prison. In those calls he revealed that Chouhaib was arrested while fleeing to Scotland in the car of his friend, Corby Town FC Chairman Paul Glass. Castle, explaining the the circumstances surrounding Chouhaib’s arrest, said: “They arrested Adel in Scotland in Glassy’s Range Rover, with Glassy.
"Yeah Adel was going to the border in Scotland to get the ferry to Morocco. Police got them all there innit.”
There is no suggestion that Mr Glass had anything to do with the burglary plot.
During Chouhaib’s trial, another pal, convicted drug dealer Darren Lafferty, turned up to sit in the public gallery.
Because the case has now been concluded, it can be revealed that Chouhaib was also one of the men behind a staggering plot to import £1.7m of cocaine into Corby in a light aircraft back in 2012. He was jailed for 11-and-a-half years but only served half of that before coming back to Corby. He was still on licence for that offence when he committed the latest offences.
He has 26 previous convictions for offences carried out between 1996 and 2010.
‘He’s looking a lot happier’
The court heard that Chouhaib has no recoverable assets so there will be no Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings. His only asset was £30,000 in cash found when his house was raided. That has been confiscated, but the amount is the subject of an appeal by Chouhaib’s legal team.
William Castle also has no assets, save for £800 confiscated on his arrest. He served 402 days in custody awaiting trial before he was released on bail in October 2023. The court heard that he had kicked drugs, had made ‘lots of plans’, and he had now put those plans into motion.
He has previous convictions dating back to 2015 including harassment, multiple driving offences, drug possession, fraud, burglary, and driving while disqualified.
Judge Mayo said: “He’s looking a lot happier and cheerful, as is Mr Chouhaib.
"Hopefully this is going to be the last time I see you here.”
Chouhaib was given 32 months in prison but has already served half of it so was released immediately.
Castle was given two years in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days.
- Burglar-for-hire James Patrick McNamee was given two years in prison, suspended for two years, during a hearing last year for his part in the Flannels burglary.