A fashion influencer and ex-footballer’s wife broke down as she shared the horrifying moment they returned home from celebrating their son’s 12th birthday to find their house ‘ransacked’ and designer handbags and watches stolen.
Ex-West Ham player Nicky Maynard, 38, and his wife Tara, 35, had taken sons Camden and Trey to an Italian restaurant in Nantwich, Cheshire last night, returning to their nearby house to find her dressing room turned upside down.
Mrs Maynard – who posts regularly about her collection of designer clothing and the family’s lifestyle to her 670,000 Instagram followers – revealed the devastating discovery in an angry and emotional video message.
‘Well I tell you what working hard gets you girls, and going out for a meal for your son’s 12th birthday – to come home to be absolutely everything has been taken, like everything,’ she said tearfully in front of upturned drawers and emptied shelves.
‘We’ve been out for an hour for Trey’s birthday and they’ve literally ransacked the whole place.
‘Like even the little kids’ safes with the cash in that they’ve been saving for Christmas and birthdays, they’ve literally taken the lot.’
Addressing her followers, she said: ‘If anybody hears or they’re selling any of my bags girls, everybody knows what I’ve got.
‘You all know what jewellery I’ve got. Then please, please tell me.’
Highlighting in a second video how the burglars even broke into their sons’ money boxes, she added: ‘Like, what scum on earth?’
Tara Maynard broke down as she shared the horrifying moment they returned home from celebrating their son’s 12th birthday to find their house ‘ransacked’ and designer handbags and watches stolen
Mrs Maynard – who posts regularly about her collection of designer clothing and the family’s lifestyle to her 670,000 Instagram followers – revealed the devastating discovery on the platform
The traumatised couple believe the intruders were still at the property when they got home as they heard noises outside and later found discarded shoes and bags. Pictured: Nicky Maynard and Tara Maynard attend the VIP launch of FENIX Manchester in 2023
Today Mrs Maynard – who now runs her own online fashion brand – revealed the ‘highly professional’ gang had stolen at least 30 handbags, as well as Cartier and Rolex watches and three Van Cleef bracelets.
She initially suspected that an Instagram post about it being their son’s birthday tipped the burglars off that the house was going to be empty.
But in daylight they discovered a camera pointing towards their front door taped to a bush and now believe the criminals were using it to spy on them.
The traumatised couple believe the intruders were still at the property when they got home as they heard noises outside and later found discarded shoes and bags.
The break-in comes just days after over 100 designer handbags were stolen along with jewellery from a house in upmarket Cheshire village Alderley Edge.
‘When we got home there was no sign of forced entry,’ Mrs Maynard told Mail Online.
‘We went upstairs and when my sons went into their bedrooms they started shouting: ‘What’s happened?’
‘All the drawers had been pulled out and the wardrobes were wide open.
‘I went into my dressing room and I couldn’t believe it, they’d ransacked it from top to bottom.
‘They’d taken my Chanel bags, a Rolex, Cartier bangles, everything.
‘They even took the money the boys had been saving from Christmas and their birthdays.’
The couple rang police who have today been examining the property for evidence.
‘It’s petrifying to think we might have disturbed them while they were still in the house,’ she added.
Today Mrs Maynard – who now runs her own online fashion brand – revealed the ‘highly professional’ gang had stolen at least 30 handbags, as well as Cartier and Rolex watches and three Van Cleef bracelets. Pictured: Nicky Maynard and Tara Maynard
‘Our boys are too scared to be alone now, they didn’t want to go to school today.
‘This burglary has affected us massively – home should be your safe place, but it doesn’t feel that way any more.’
Mr Maynard – who made almost 500 career appearances for clubs including Cardiff City and MK Dons – said: ‘As we got home I thought I heard footsteps in the gravel, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.
‘Now I realise it was probably the burglars getting away.
‘We’ve found four bags which they’ve dumped as they escaped, but there’s no sign of the rest of Tara’s things.
‘They obviously knew exactly what they were doing as none of the neighbours saw or heard anything.’
Some of Mrs Maynard’s posts showing off her collection of designer clothes and handbags have been viewed as many as 1.4million times.
Defending her social media posts, she said: ‘I work in the fashion industry, it’s what I do – we worked hard to afford the things we own.
‘We’re living in a world where you’re scared to wear nice things when you go out and yet you’re also scared to leave them at home.
‘These criminals don’t care about what kind of life you lead, they’ll target you anyway.’
Luxury homes in upmarket parts of Cheshire represent high-value targets for burglars, and recent victims include Manchester City star Jack Grealish, whose home was broken into on December 27 while he was playing a match.
The criminals responsible for these raids are believed to include foreign gangs that come to the UK simply to commit sophisticated burglaries, then fly home before police can catch them.
Just last week detectives revealed that a gang had stolen more than 100 rare designer handbags thought to be worth at least £1million in a raid on a luxury home in the footballers’ enclave of Alderley Edge.
Cheshire Police are currently investigating the raid on the Maynards’ house.
