Ozzy Osbourne once confronted a burglar naked in the middle of the night after two men broke into his Buckinghamshire home in 2004, while his wife Sharon slept. The Black Sabbath frontman, who died aged 76, stumbled upon one of the intruders when he got up to use the bathroom at around 4am. He reportedly held the masked assailant in a headlock before the burglar fled by jumping from a first-floor window.
The burglars bypassed the security system and made off with jewellery worth an estimated £1 million, including a 10-carat diamond ring given to Sharon two years earlier when she renewed her wedding vows with Ozzy. The couple had returned home from a birthday party for Sir Elton John's husband, David Furnish, just before the break-in.
During a press conference, Ozzy said: 'When I had a go at the assailant, I acted purely on impulse. In hindsight, it could've been a lot worse. I could have been like George Harrison [who was once stabbed by an intruder]. I could have been badly injured or shot or anything.' When asked if he would tackle a burglar again, he quipped: 'Is the Pope a Catholic?'
Sharon described the stolen ring, saying: '[Ozzy] always said I was a perfect 10 [and] that when he had the money he would buy me a 10-carat diamond ring and he did.' Insurers offered a £100,000 reward for the stolen items.
Years later, in 2011, the ring was recovered after the couple's daughter Kelly Osbourne spotted it on the BBC's Crimewatch. South Yorkshire Police had recovered some jewellery, and Kelly wrote on X: 'Thank you crime watch my mum is over the moon that's her wedding ring she cried with joy because she can get it back! Thank you!'
