‘Just a dishonest window cleaner’? Britain’s history of audacious cat burglars

£10m north London heist was a reminder of a time before security cameras when cat burglars were at work in high society

It was one of the stories of Christmas: the audacious theft of more than £10m in jewellery, designer handbags and cash from a mansion in St John’s Wood, north London.

The heist was carried out by a man who climbed in through a second-floor window and “moved like a cat” around the five-storey house, managing to avoid seven people before leaving with his haul.

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