TOWIE star Mario Falcone’s home ransacked with wedding ring and Rolex watch stolen in raid while he was on holidays
TOWIE star Mario Falcone’s home has been ransacked while he was away on holiday.
Burglars took a £15,000 wedding ring and a gold Rolex watch during the £70,000 raid in Brentwood, Essex.
Dad-of-three Jordan McKenzie-Pryce, 38, also took designer handbags and a Macbook, as well as £5,000 in cash, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
The items have never been returned and Mr Falcone, 34, is now terrified to leave his home, he told the court.
The raid came just weeks after McKenzie-Pryce ambushed a man who was blasted with a shotgun.
He was jailed for 12 years, with an extra two on licence for the burglary and firearms offences.
He must now also pay Mr Falcone £25,000 in compensation.
Mr Falcone, a dad-of-two, went on holiday with his family in September 2022.
He left the house locked with a fully-engaged alarm system, a judge heard.
But just days into the trip he got a call telling him his house had been burgled.
Cops searched McKenzie-Pryce’s home and found pictures of the stolen goods on his phone, along with a floor plan of Mr Falcone’s home.
In a victim impact statement Mr Falcone said he and his wife now rarely leave the house because they’re afraid for their kids.
He added: “The watch and other items have huge sentimental value. That watch I wore on my wedding day and I would have worn that until the time to pass it onto my son on his wedding day.
“My entire life has been affected by this. I questioned at the time posting things on my social media and whether I would be a target. It shouldn’t be like this.”
Prosecuting, Keith Hadrill said: “He found that items had been taken out of the house, a number of expensive items.
“A gold Rolex, £5,000 in cash, a wedding ring worth £15,000, a total of £69,000.
“He [Mr Falcone] said by reason of CCTV he can determine that the burglary occurred between 12am and 2.30am on September 5, 2022.”
He added that voices could be heard in CCTV footage at that time.
Defending McKenzie-Pryce, Lawrence McNulty said he had previously been offered a job in the music industry but had to leave when the company moved to the US.
He said McKenzie-Pryce couldn’t follow because of his criminal record, and was forced back into criminality.
In May Mr Falcone, already dad to a son, revealed the birth of a baby girl with wife Becky.
Earlier this year reality TV star Joey Essex revealed he was quitting Britain for Dubai after a break-in at his Essex mansion.