An armed career criminal who attempted to force his way into the bedroom of Hollywood actress Anya Taylor-Joy during a late-night raid on a London mansion has received additional prison time. Kirk Holdrick, 43, was one of two masked intruders who smashed their way into the luxury property in February 2023, in what prosecutors suggest may have been a targeted attack on the celebrity occupants.
The Terrifying Nighttime Ordeal
Taylor-Joy was staying at the London property on February 12, 2023, with her husband, musician Malcolm McRae, and his bandmate Kane Ritchotte when the break-in occurred around 1am. The couple heard glass shattering as intruders smashed a side door of the home. McRae went to investigate and encountered two men wearing balaclavas and gloves forcing their way into the property.
After shouting "hey, stop," McRae retreated to the bedroom where he and his wife were staying, locked the door, and instructed Taylor-Joy to hide behind the bed. He then armed himself with a lamp as the intruders began forcing the bedroom door open with a crowbar.
"I Have a Gun"
In a desperate attempt to scare off the burglars, McRae shouted that he had a firearm. Wood Green Crown Court heard that this claim caused the intruders to pause their efforts to break down the door. After a brief discussion about the potential presence of a gun, Holdrick and his accomplice fled the property empty-handed.
When Metropolitan Police officers arrived at the scene, Taylor-Joy and McRae remained barricaded inside the bedroom, with visible damage to the door frame. The couple told authorities they had been traumatised by the experience and feared being targeted again in the future.
Evidence and Investigation
CCTV footage captured the moment Holdrick and his accomplice scaled a wall to access the property, triggering an external security light that appeared to startle them as they attempted to break in. Investigators found Holdrick's DNA on the back door of the home, and shoe prints from his trainers were discovered outside the bedroom door.
Holdrick was arrested on April 18, 2023, after disembarking from a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool. Initially, he denied involvement in the burglary, claiming he had visited the property previously as a party guest and suggesting that was how his DNA had been left behind. However, he later abandoned this defence and pleaded guilty to burglary in mid-December last year.
A Pattern of Criminal Escalation
Prosecutors highlighted to Judge Barbara Mensah that the burglars' decision to target the bedroom rather than simply stealing valuable items from elsewhere in the home suggested the raid may have been specifically aimed at the celebrity occupants. This incident was part of an escalating pattern of criminal behaviour by Holdrick.
Just nine days after the thwarted raid on Taylor-Joy and McRae, Holdrick and accomplice Ashley Fulton dressed as police officers and armed themselves with an imitation firearm to target the home of wealthy businessman Mark Aitchison in Sandbanks, overlooking Poole harbour. During this second home invasion, they restrained Aitchison's wife with cable ties and threatened to kill her if she didn't open the family safe.
When the couple's daughter Emily arrived home unexpectedly, she was seized by the robbers, dragged by her hair, and threatened with the gun. The intruders threatened to shoot her in front of her mother and asked where they kept an iron, telling her: "We want to burn you." The robbers ultimately fled with approximately £200,000 worth of luxury watches, designer handbags, jewellery, and cash.
Criminal History and Sentencing
Holdrick is a career criminal who was previously jailed for life in 2005 for armed robberies on a security van transporting cash and a jewellers. He was recalled to prison to continue serving his life sentence after his latest offences. In November, he received a 12-year prison sentence for the Sandbanks robbery, with an additional four years on licence if released.
For the burglary involving Taylor-Joy and her husband, Holdrick has now been handed a further three-year prison sentence. During the early stages of the case, his lawyers attempted to convince the Crown Prosecution Service to drop the burglary charge since he was already serving a life sentence and had admitted to the Sandbanks robbery offences. However, the CPS insisted on continuing the case, arguing that the London burglary represented part of an escalating criminal pattern.
The Golden Globe-winning actress, whose work includes The Queen's Gambit, the Dune movies, and Peaky Blinders, appeared on the Baftas red carpet just one week after the traumatic ordeal at her London accommodation.
