Man who burgled Irish billionaire’s London home climbed through open window, court told

Paul Coulson, chairman of Ardagh Group, rings the opening bell at the group's listing day at the New York Stock Exchange in New York on March 15, 2017. File picture

One of several burglars who ransacked an Irish billionaire’s London home gained access to the property by climbing through an open window, a court has heard.

Paul Coulson’s townhouse in Knightsbridge was burgled repeatedly in the space of just four days in December last year, with thieves getting away with an estimated €1.46 million in cash, jewellery, designer clothes and luxury handbags.

One of the culprits, Ali Lamnouar, walked away with an estimated €191,000 in valuables – only two years after having burgled the London home of George Iacobescu, the former chairman and chief executive of the Canary Wharf Group, the court heard.

The 46-year-old, of Gatliff Road in Westminster, was sentenced to five years and two months’ imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

His barrister Daniel Higgins told the judge Lamnouar’s offences were opportunistic in nature, and that he gained entry to Mr Coulson’s €10.18 million townhouse through an “open window”.

“He took the opportunity on each occasions and undertook the offence – there was no significant planning,” Mr Higgins said, adding Lamnouar left the scene of the crime “on foot”.

Prosecutor Roxanne Whittaker-Lewis told the court a housekeeper locked up the Coulson townhouse at around 6pm on December 5 2025.

When she returned to the property at around 9.30am on December 8, she found a basement window open and the house ransacked.

Two years prior on October 27 2023, Lamnouar broke into the home of George Iacobescu while he was in his basement watching TV.

Mr Iacobescu felt a cold draught in the room and, upon going to the ground floor to investigate, found that “all the windows were open and there had been an untidy search and ransacking,” judge Justin Cole, sentencing, told the court.

Lamnouar stole four luxury watches valued between €5,850 and €14,040, as well as cash – but judge Cole said the exact total value of items stolen then had yet to be determined.

Judge Cole told Lamnouar his criminal record – which includes 30 previous convictions for burglary, and a firearms offence for which he received an 11-year prison sentence in 2013 – was “appalling”, but gave him credit for his guilty pleas.

Mr Coulson is the founder of the Ardagh group, a global packaging supplier, and is one of Ireland’s wealthiest people with a fortune valued in 2021 at 2.8 billion dollars.

His townhouse, which is close to the grounds of Buckingham Palace, was broken into repeatedly in December last year, with Lamnouar getting caught on CCTV twice entering the property on December 5 and leaving with large holdalls, a previous hearing was told.

He was initially accused of being responsible for stealing all of the goods, valued at €1.46 million, which went missing from Mr Coulson’s home.

But prosecutors later said they could only be sure he stole possessions such as jewellery, designer handbags and clothes valued at €191,684 when they realised the home had been burgled a second time just days later.

The court previously heard stolen goods were found at his home, including designer coats, dresses and jackets, as well as handbags by Prada, Chanel and YSL, including one valued at €16,380, a €5,265 Cartier love bracelet, pearl earrings, a €27,495 necklace, and a ring worth €33,930.