She showed no mercy towards two-timing boyfriends on Made In Chelsea – and now Eliza Batten is taking the same direct approach with shoplifters who target her second-hand designer clothes store.
The former TV star told me how she confronted a repeat offender last weekend, just months after chasing another thief through the streets of central London.
Her latest light-fingered visitor originally stole £1,200 worth of jewellery from her shop, The Cirkel in Marylebone, in December. The older gentleman visited the shop with his wife – a ‘great guise’ Batten says – and slyly pocketed an pricey necklace and bracelet.
Audaciously, the ‘local opportunist’ has twice returned. ‘He was back last weekend and was about to step into the shop when he saw our security guard, and thought better of it,’ she says. ‘I followed him down the street and said, ‘Excuse me, I recognise you,’ then showed him a picture I’d taken of him in my shop. He said, ‘You’re harassing me, leave me alone!’
She followed the shoplifter for 15 minutes, eventually losing him when he ducked into a church.
Batten pursued another thief over Christmas, when he took £1,000 worth of jackets from the store. ‘I just saw red and chased after him,’ she says. ‘I said ‘Excuse me, can I see in that tote bag?’ He said ‘no’ so I grabbed it and he yanked it off me then ran through all sorts of alleyways.’
The former TV star confronted a repeat offender last weekend, just months after chasing another thief through the streets of central London
Her latest light-fingered visitor originally stole £1,200 worth of jewellery from her shop, The Cirkel in Marylebone, in December
Batten caught up with him eventually and demanded he return the coats. ‘He called me a b****,’ she says. ‘I was shaking like a leaf.’
She filed a police report, but to no avail.
Officers said even if he was caught and it was a first offence, he would ‘probably get a £50 fine and a slap on the wrist.
A sad reality for all shops, I think’.
Saskia forms a new bond
Saskia Connery, the 28-year-old granddaughter of 007 actor Sean, has found love again.
After a broken engagement to banking heir Phillip Thomas Muhr, 37, the socialite is now dating French winemaker Gaetan Hadrien, I can reveal.
Saskia Connery, the 28-year-old granddaughter of 007 actor Sean, has found love again
The pair met via mutual friends and have been hanging out in the Bahamas, where she lives.
No wild time for solo Joe
Poor Joe Jonas. I hear the American singer has been dining alone at Notting Hill’s Canteen when he visits London.
Poor Joe Jonas. I hear the American singer has been dining alone at Notting Hill’s Canteen when he visits London
Meanwhile his ex, Games of Thrones star Sophie Turner, has been having a raucous time down the road with her aristo boyfriend Perry Pearson at the Wild bar, where a negroni costs a cool £35.
A week after I revealed that Emma Raducanu was ‘outraging members’ at Wimbledon by wearing a pink tennis outfit, one illustrious member of the All England Lawn Tennis Club has weighed in on the debate.
‘It is a very strict all-white rule if you’re practising there or if you’re having a meeting there,’ says Judy Murray, mother of two-time Wimbledon-champion Andy.
Emma Raducanu was ‘outraging members’ at Wimbledon by wearing a pink tennis outfit
Judy Murray, mother of two-time Wimbledon-champion Andy, has weighed in on the debate
‘I think you should adhere to the rules.’
Quite right.
Spotted
◆ Harry Styles watching Sabrina Carpenter in concert at The O2 – is this a new friendship, or perhaps something more?
◆ Princess Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank holding court at The Blue Stoops pub in Kensington, West London.
◆ George and Amal Clooney shopping in Paul Smith in London’s Covent Garden.
◆ New bride Georgia Toffolo in a leopard print coat and black veil at the Cheltenham Festival.
New bride Georgia Toffolo was spotted in a leopard print coat and black veil at the Cheltenham Festival
They may have won the legal battle to reverse their £32.5 million purchase of a Notting Hill mansion after finding a hideous moth infestation, but billionaire heiress Iya Patarkatsishvili and her husband Yevhan Hunyak are in no hurry to move out.
Billionaire heiress Iya Patarkatsishvili and her husband Yevhan Hunyak are in no hurry to move out of their mansion
Iya says they are staying in the seven-bedroom home until May – bug-swatting notwithstanding. Original seller William Woodward-Fisher, an ex-Team GB rower, was last month ordered to buy back the property.
Talking about new homes, I hear actor Jude Law has been searching for a property in New Orleans using a virtual reality headset to remotely experience what his new purchase might be like. Try before you buy!