Might prison work for thieves who stole Lord Howard’s car?

WHEN he was Home Secretary, Michael Howard was known for his tough stance on crime, declaring memorably that ‘prison works’. Now, the Conservative peer has a personal reason to lament the state of London, with some claiming the capital has turned into a ‘Wild West’ under Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan. I hear that Lord Howard and his wife, the Vogue model turned best- selling author Sandra, had their car, with its precious contents, stolen while they popped into a friend’s party in Mayfair the other day. ‘Our car was stolen, with everything in it,’ Lady Howard confirms. ‘Clothes, handbag, laptops, work files, two freezer bags full of a longweekend’s worth of food — which I rather hope had all gone off by the time the thieves got to open the bags.’ Her husband says one of the items that was stolen was the manuscript of her latest novel. ‘My wife’s manuscript was on there. Luckily, she had it saved onto a Cloud, so she hasn’t lost the work. But she also lost her purse and all her credit cards. She was pretty miserable about it.’ Lord Howard, 82, adds of the ‘strangely dislocating’ experience of losing their much-used vehicle: ‘It was a seven-year- old Toyota Prius, so I can’t understand why anyone would want to steal it. ‘We were on our way down to Kent, but we popped in to wish a friend “happy birthday” in the West End.’ The couple hope the car and its contents are recovered before Christmas. Last year, Sandra, 83, was forced to spend some of the festive season in hospital after she fractured her hip in a fall. ‘Languishing in a hospital bed,’ she told friends then. ‘Not much fun.’ Her son, Sholto Douglas-Home, explained: ‘She took a tumble and fractured a bone just before Christmas. She was with the family for Christmas, but it seemed not to be getting better, hence needing to get it properly looked at.’