Police tied up innocent chauffeur in hunt for Tamara £25m raiders

DETECTIVES raided a chauffeur’s home and handcuffed him, mistakenly thinking he was selling jewellery stolen in a £25million raid on Tamara Ecclestone’s mansion.

Paul Carton, 57, bought a ring in 2013 that had been owned by the socialite and listed it for sale online last year.

But police were convinced he had been involved in Britain’s biggest-ever domestic burglary in December 2019 and undercover officers targeted the driver by posing as prospective buyers.

Once inside his Dorset home, they opened his door to allow eight colleagues to storm in to tackle Mr Carton to the floor.

They handcuffed him, bound his legs with plastic ties and held him down on a chair while the house was searched for more jewels. Mr Carton said he thought he was being robbed and fought for his life against the plain clothes officers. The father-of-three suffered a broken tooth, injured back and cuts and bruises.

Fighting back tears, Mr Carton recalled: ‘It was agony, the handcuffs cutting into my hands while I could hear them moving around my house. I still didn’t think they were police, I feared for my life.’

He was taken to Weymouth police station and arrested for handling stolen goods and assaulting an emergency worker. He admits that he struck an officer in the face when the group had burst into his home.

Mr Carton said he was told Miss Ecclestone had identified the ring as one stolen in the December 2019 raid on her mansion in Kensington, west London, in which cash and jewels were taken. The chauffeur

‘Thought he was being robbed’

said he explained he bought the ring six years before the burglary and has since been told no further action will be taken.

Mr Carton bought the ring mount for £1,000 from Nikki Bradford Morton, who sells on items no longer wanted by the Ecclestone family. It is understood the ring, which originally held an eight-carat diamond, was given to Miss Ecclestone by her ex-boyfriend, Omar Khyami. She was seen wearing it on her 27th birthday in 2011 but is thought to have removed the diamond and offloaded the ring once they split in 2012.

Mr Carton said he listed the diamond-encrusted ring mount for sale for £15,000.

The raid took place shortly after midday on June 21 last year.

Mr Carton said he was in handcuffs for more than four hours and spent three hours in a cell.

He has made a formal complaint and plans legal action. He said he is yet to receive an apology. A police spokesman said Mr Carton’s complaint ‘is under investigation’, adding: ‘We are unable to comment while this is ongoing.’

Last November, three men were jailed for a total of 28 years over the raids on Miss Ecclestone’s mansion and other people’s homes.