A Romanian couple who ‘groomed’ their six-year-old son to help them steal a £67,000 watch from Harrods have been jailed for a total of 26 months.
Ilie Para and Marta Para-Bloj, both 33, scoped out the luxury Knightsbridge retailer days ahead of the theft and took pictures of the Audemars Piguet Royal Offshore Oak 18 carat rose gold watch.
The couple returned to Harrods with their six-year-old son to carry out the theft on September 19 this year.
When the sales assistant turned her back to then, Para swapped the £67,400 timepiece with a replica hidden in his son’s hood, Southwark Crown Court heard.
The Romanians were stopped by police days later in their black Audi on the port of Dover attempting to go home.
Para and Para-Bloj, Hendon, both admitted theft from a shop. Para was jailed for 18 months today while his wife Para-Bloj was sentenced to eight months in jail.
Ilie Para and Marta Para-Bloj, both 33, scoped out the luxury Knightsbridge retailer days ahead of stealing the watch
They took pictures of the Royal Offshore Oak 18 carat rose gold watch before returning to steal it
Judge Michael Grieve, QC, told the pair they had ‘groomed’ their young child to help them commit the theft.
‘You took part in what has aptly been described as a sophisticated, well-planned and audacious plan to steal an expensive watch using your six-year-old child as a key part in its execution,’ said the judge.
Prosecutor Dominic Hockley said the couple were at Harrods five days before the theft on a ‘reconnaissance mission’, trying and photographing various timepieces.
‘When they found the watch they were interested in they took photographs, no doubt intending to obtain a realistic replica.
‘We say this has shown planning and sophistication,’ said Mr Hockley.
The pair returned to the store a few days later, their young son in tow, and once more asked to see the watch display, claiming to be buying a present for the woman’s father.
‘One of the watches was an 18-carat rose gold Royal Oak offshore self-winding chronograph worth £67,400,’ the prosecutor said.
‘The couple said they didn’t like the other watches, they wanted the Royal Oak offshore.
‘When the sales assistant took the other watches and placed them back in the stacks, as she did that, Mr Para took off the genuine watch he had been trying on and swapped it with a fake that was concealed in his child’s coat hood.
‘He immediately placed the fake watch on the display tray,’ said the prosecutor.
Judge Michael Grieve, QC, told the pair they had ‘groomed’ their young child to help them commit the theft
‘Mrs Para-Bloj moved the watches on the display around to give the impression they were still looking at watches.’
The thieves then claimed they needed some time to ‘think about it’ and got ‘edgy’ when asked for their contact details.
The sales assistant was ‘oblivious’ to the swap but the next day a colleague noticed the watch’s dial was different and it was missing its serial number.
‘It was a convincing fake, but a fake nevertheless,’ said Mr Hockley.
The authorities were altered and the family was stopped at the port of Dover with Para wearing the watch on his left wrist, their London address having been cleared of their belongings.
Ioana Nedelcu, defending, told the court Para-Bloj, who was pregnant when she was arrested, had ‘suffered tremendously’ after miscarrying while in prison.
‘I understand she had a significant amount of pain for a number of days and I understand she was only treated by prison staff with Paracetamol,’ said Ms Nedelcu.
‘She does have a six-year old child with this defendant.
‘At the moment he has returned to Romania and is under the care of her 18-year-old daughter.
‘She has her final year in school and is due to take her exams for university, she is very busy and unprepared to take care of a child.
‘I understand the son is particularly distressed and misses his parents as well.
‘He has never been under the care of anybody but his mother and his father.’
Ms Nedelcu said that former taxi driver Para played a leading role in planning the heist including buying the counterfeit watch.
‘When I asked him the reason he had for the offence he explained his grandfather, who recently passed away, needed an operation and there wasn’t any money to pay for that operation privately in Romania,’ said the barrister.
‘He regrets the involvement of his wife and child and holds himself responsible for his wife being in custody and her loss of pregnancy.’