Marco Pierre White Jr, the 30-year-old son of celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, has been sentenced to three years and five months in prison for a £60,000 burglary and shoplifting spree driven by his drug addiction. The offences included smashing into an exclusive West London gallery, causing £27,000 in damage, and stealing two fluorite crystal lamp towers worth £13,600.
Isleworth Crown Court heard on Thursday that Pierre White Jr used Lime Bikes as getaway vehicles for several thefts. He stole sought-after Jellycat toys worth £1,500 from a Barnes High Street gift store and £7,775 worth of natural rock crystal formations from a Notting Hill shop. He also threatened a female worker at an Aesop store in Westbourne Grove, saying he would “hurt her” if she interfered while he shoplifted £1,331 of hygiene products.
Pierre White Jr, a former Big Brother contestant, appeared via videolink from prison. When the judge adjourned to consider the sentence, he told prison guards he did not want to wait and returned to his cell, missing the imposition of his jail term. The court heard he had 35 convictions for 69 offences, including previous thefts and racial abuse of a police officer.
Prosecutor Chris Harper detailed a June 12 break-in at an Italian deli in Kensington, where Pierre White Jr stole a laptop, iPad, and till tray, causing over £4,000 in losses. He also stole Jellycats from a Waterstones in Chiswick, fleeing on a waiting Lime bike. On July 21, he used a brick to smash through a glass door to steal Jellycats from an independent shop called Presents. He was found by police dogs in an alleyway at 2:30am and tried to mislead them by claiming he had seen others running past.
The court also heard he booked an Uber as a getaway vehicle, but the driver called the police. Pierre White Jr admitted an April 2 raid on a Mercy in Action charity shop, stealing £535 from the safe, and was linked to another break-in where he left blood at the scene. His barrister, Sean Sullivan, said the offences stemmed from a “long-standing drug addiction” and the sudden closure of his treatment centre.
Judge Edward Connell described Pierre White Jr as a “prolific acquisitive offender” and activated 25 weeks of suspended sentences, to be served consecutively. The judge will consider imposing a criminal behaviour order at a later date. The owner of Dale Rogers Ammonite gallery, which suffered £44,000 in losses including damaged fossils, told the court the raid was “devastating”.
