Father and son cleared of stealing champagne from Fortnum & Mason

A father and son have been cleared by a court of stealing eight bottles of champagne worth £348 from Fortnum & Mason.

Douglas Vallender, 53, and Jack Vallender, 18, had denied taking the drinks from the department store in central London.

A jury at Southwark crown court in south London took 48 minutes to reach a unanimous not guilty verdict. Both defendants, of St Ives, Cornwall, breathed a sigh of relief and mouthed “Thank you” as the verdicts were delivered.

Vallender Sr said after the verdict that he would shop at Fortnum & Mason again, despite the ordeal.

Recorder Michael Howard QC told the jurors: “You have come to a decision extremely quickly. It has been a short case, which is perhaps not surprising.

“I am sure the defendants are grateful to you and the court is grateful to you in deciding the case as you have.”

The prosecution had described the alleged offence as “brazen”, “thought-out” and “planned”. It was alleged that the two men, who arrived at the store on 1 May 2017 at about 12.15pm, filled a branded Fortnum & Mason bag with the champagne and walked out of the shop.

They were stopped a short distance away by store security guards as they walked towards Piccadilly Circus and were taken back while police were called.

Douglas Vallender, who said he knew where to pay, said that in this instance paying for the items had “slipped both our minds”.

He told the court that he and his family visited the store in the West End of London about three times a year and he bought champagne to hand out as gifts for his holiday lets in St Ives and for friends.

The court also heard that before entering Fortnum & Mason, Vallender Jr had bought three pairs of slim-fit Levi jeans for £260 from a nearby store.

Prosecutors had suggested the property developer had told his son to take part in the theft before they went into the store and “through weakness he went ahead with it”. The Vallenders denied all the allegations.

The father, who has high blood pressure and had taken medication which has side-effects, said he had been feeling unwell, and his son, who wants to be a merchant banker, needed to complete an application form that day.

After the verdicts, Douglas Vallender said: “As if I would ever put my son in that position [to steal].

“It is a shame because I loved giving out Fortnum & Mason products when we had holidaymakers over Christmas and new year. It is a British institution and it is what we all love.”

His son who is waiting for his A-level results and hoping to get into university, said outside court: “It has been the worst and hopefully will be the best week of my life.”

He added the publicity from the case had brought unwanted attention from people “and all assume the worst, so to have this decision and everything over with is great.

“It is horrible. I used to love coming to London and now it seems the only reason I have come here recently was because of this case.”