It was a split-second decision. As the masked attackers entered the property, a man returned to the bedroom and barricaded himself and his wife inside – armed only with a lamp – while the intruders tried to open the door, according to Sky News.
Anya Taylor-Joy poses for a photo on the red carpet during the closing ceremony of the 22nd Marrakech International Film Festival on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Morocco. (AP)The couple was Anya Taylor-Joy, the Golden Globe-winning Hollywood star known for The Queen’s Gambit, The Dune film and Peaky Blinders, and her husband Malcolm McRae.
One of the thieves, Kirk Holdrick, 43, of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, has been jailed since Tuesday, the BBC reports.
Described as a career criminal and convicted in his teens, Holdrick admitted the London burglary and was sentenced to a further three years in custody on top of a 12-year term imposed in November for separate violent home invasions in Dorset.
Scared off the masked men and went back to the bedroomWood Green Crown Court heard they were staying at the property on February 12, 2023 when the break-in took place.
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McRae was confronted by two masked men after hearing glass being smashed from a side window. He then went back to the bedroom with his wife, where the intruders tried to force their way in. Bluffing that he had a gun, McRae was able to intimidate the men, prompting them to flee empty-handed.
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Prosecutors said the theft may have been a targeted operation, noting that the intruders didn’t just steal high-value items and suggesting they wanted to personally target celebrities, the report added.
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The couple later told police they were traumatized by the ordeal and feared being targeted again. Taylor-Joy appeared on the Baftas red carpet just a week later.
Holdrick was arrested on 18 April 2023 after getting off a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool. He initially claimed his DNA was on the London property because he had previously attended a party there, but later dropped the defense and pleaded guilty in mid-December last year.
Another London-break-in, same thiefJust nine days after the London break-in, Holdrick took part in another home invasion at Sandbank, overlooking Poole Harbor in Dorset.
Disguised as a police officer, he and his accomplice, Ashley Fulton, target the home of wealthy businessman Mark Aitchison.
During that raid, Aitchison’s wife Kerry was told she would be killed if she did not open the family safe. When their daughter Emily arrived home unexpectedly, she too was restrained and threatened. The intruders told him they would shoot him in front of his mother and demanded to know where the iron was: “We want to burn you.”
The pair fled with £200,000 worth of luxury watches, designer handbags, jewelery and cash, but left a trail of DNA. Police later located the getaway vehicle and recovered the vape from the vehicle.
Holdrick, who previously briefly dated a cast member from The Only Way is Essex, was jailed for life in 2005 for an armed robbery of a security van. He has now been sent back to prison to serve a life sentence.
In November, he was jailed for 12 years for the Sandbanks robbery and given a further four years on license after pleading guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court to two counts of robbery, possession of an imitation firearm and forgery.
