Simon Cowell says he feared for his toddler son when burglars ransacked his safe for jewellery worth £1m

Simon Cowell has told a court of his terror for his toddler son as a burglar broke into his home and ransacked a safe to steal nearly £1 million worth of jewellery.

The music mogul's four-floor, five-bed house in the wealth Holland Park area of London was targeted by serial burglar Darren February, a court heard.

Among the items taken were a diamond ring estimated to be valued at half a million pounds, watches said to be worth £200,000, earrings valued at £220,000 and a diamond bracelet said to be worth £50,000, the court was told.

Simon Cowell

The jewellery taken was worth more than  one million dollars, which the jury was told equates to around £950,000.

At the time of the break-in at around 1.30am on December 4 2015, Cowell was asleep in his bedroom with his partner Lauren Silverman.

He described in a statement read to the court how he was woken by his security guard who told him about the break-in.

Cowell said he immediately asked about his son Eric, who was also in the property with his nanny, and was "very concerned" about his welfare. 

In his account of what happened, Cowell said: "(The security guard) said there had been an incident in the property, that we had been robbed and that we should stay in the room. 

"Lauren and myself then asked about my son, and we were very concerned about making sure he was all right."

Explaining why the safe was left open he said: "Lauren was flying abroad that morning and she wanted to quietly get her jewellery."

Cowell added: "I wish to say that no-one has the right or authority to steal from Lauren or myself and I will go to court if required."

Ms Silverman's statement, also read to the court, said items were taken from a dressing room on the first floor and a "large quantity of jewellery" was taken from the safe.

February, 34, was spotted making off by a private security guard M'Batonha Mendes, who was patrolling the area overnight, the court heard. 

The defendant, who has dozens of convictions for burglary, was later identified by two police officers who studied CCTV footage, Mr Barry said.

February, of no fixed address, denies one count of burglary. The trial is expected to last a week.