A robber who was part of a gang that threatened to cut off the fingers of former England footballer Ashley Cole in front of his children has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Kurtis Dilks, 35, was also ordered to serve a five-year extended licence period by a judge at Nottingham Crown Court, who stated that the former Chelsea and Arsenal defender and his partner Sharon Canu had suffered psychological effects that “cannot be overstated”
The footballer’s Surrey home was attacked in a way that the judge called “extremely terrifying” and he described the gang as “intelligent, violent and chillingly ruthless men”
Cole told police during Dilks’ trial that he thought “now I am going to die” as the masked raiders tied his hands behind his back while he was holding his young daughter.
Dilks was the only member of the robbery gang apprehended after his DNA was discovered on the cable ties used to restrain Cole and Ms Canu.
He was convicted along with five others for their roles in a series of “ruthlessly executed” robberies and burglaries between October 2018 and January 2020, according to prosecutors.
Cole said in an impact statement read to the court earlier that the “terror and confusion” on his children’s faces when the gang smashed into his home “will never leave” him.
