The Aston Villa striker Darren Bent, currently on loan at Brighton, has had two luxury cars stolen and burglars broke into his house and stole the keys to the vehicles.
The burglars broke into Bent’s house in Little Aston in the early hours of Saturday morning and helped themselves to keys to the striker’s Range Rover and Audi RS6.
Staffordshire police were called to Bent’s house at 3.15am and discovered that locks on a uPVC window had been broken.
Sergeant Richard Morris told the Birmingham Mail: “Offenders have snapped the lock cylinder in two by applying force to the cylinder. Thieves have devised methods of snapping these types of cylinders locks in a matter of seconds while still being able to operate the lock to open the door.
“They’re then able to look for the keys to the cars they’ve seen outside and drive them away. This threat can be reduced simply by upgrading the cylinder to one that is specifically designed to prevent this method of attack. We recommend that all vulnerable doors using Euro Profile cylinder locks be upgraded to incorporate ‘Break Secure’ cylinders.”
Bent is not the only footballer to be victim of a burglary recently. Southampton’s Victor Wanyama was robbed during the Saints’ 1-1 draw with Aston Villa in late November and his Range Rover Sport was taken while there was a spate of “away-day” break-ins in the north-west area, sparked when Jerzy Dudek was burgled while playing for Liverpool.
