Inside job? Simon Cowell's guard was 'on the loo' during £1m raid

A court has heard that Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman were robbed of £1million worth of jewellery while their security guard was on the toilet.

The 57-year-old music mogul, his partner, 39, and their son Eric were asleep on December 4, 2015, when thief Darren February took off from their home in Holland Park, west London, with the huge stash.

Cowell’s private security guard, Simon Williams, was unaware there had been an intruder until he was finished using the loo and noticed doors wide open and lights switched on.

Williams took to the stand and admitted he had not seen February enter the house on CCTV cameras because he would have been either in the kitchen making a hot drink or in the toilet.

Ooops.

He said: “I’m assuming it would’ve been the latter.”

What’s more, Jurors heard that when Police Constable Tze Chua arrived on the scene, Williams was initially reluctant to let him in.

To which Williams responded: “It’s always been protocol that the house owner did not want police on site, unless there was something extreme and there was an important reason to be there.”

Giles Newell, defending, put it to the court that Cowell had told the press afterwards that he suspected it was “an inside job” and asked Williams: “Do you know anything about this being an inside job?”

Williams replied: “No, I certainly do not.”

Meanwhile, a night porter who was patrolling the scene, M’Batonha Mendes, also gave evidence and said he spotted February sculking away and after finding a passport and items of jewellery dropped by the burglar he alerted Williams.

He told the court: “He (Williams) said he went to the toilet and when he came out he noticed that the front door was wide open and all the lights were switched on in the house.”

Earlier this week, Cowell gave evidence and said despite losing valuable items, his first priority was the safety of his family.

He said: “It’s not what they stole, it’s the fact they got into the house. That was the frightening thing, the idea someone was in my house.”

The thief has denied burglary and the trial continues at Isleworth crown court.