Burglar ordered to pay Lord Alan Sugar £170,000 after raiding his mansion

21 October 2019, 21:50

A serial burglar who targeted the home of Lord Alan Sugar has been ordered to pay the Apprentice star £170,000 in compensation.

David Buisson stole more than £1.2 million worth of property from a number of properties in Epping Forest and Canvey Island between December 2015 and June 2017.

Then 50-year-old twice raided Lord Alan's mansion in Chigwell during his six-month "orgy" of burglaries in 2017.

Last year Buisson, a former helicopter pilot, was jailed for eight years after admitting 11 burglaries and two attempted burglaries.

But he was brought back before the court on Monday for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act and was ordered to pay compensation to eight of his victims, including Lord Sugar.

Callum Munday, prosecuting, said that Buisson had benefited from the burglaries to the tune of £1,270,379.50.

He said that £294,973 of assets could be realised.

Judge Ian Graham ordered the confiscation of these assets, and that compensation be paid to eight victims, including £173,977.77 to Lord Sugar.

He gave Buisson three months to comply with the court order, with four years in prison should he fail to do so.

Essex Police said officers investigating Buisson had found tools and items used for drilling and lock picking at addresses linked to him in Ongar and Woodford.

They also found a stolen drone and jewellery.

A seized computer showed internet searches had been made for some of the addresses that were later burgled.

Buisson, of Stanley Place, Ongar, was arrested under a European Arrest Warrant in the Spanish town of Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol in April 2018.

Detective Inspector Rob Staples said after Buisson was jailed: "The detectives involved in this complex investigation left no stone unturned to identify and locate David Buisson to hold him to account for his part in these offences."