TV chef Gino D’Acampo served time in prison after he broke into the home of pop star Paul Young.
The multi-millionaire star has recently been accused of a string of allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour, of which he denies any wrongdoing.
He did however previously spend two years behind bars after stealing £4,000 worth of guitars from Young along with treasured memories of the singer’s late wife Stacey.
D’Acampo – who went on to become one of the UK’s favourite TV chefs – was working as a waiter at the time of the raid in 1998 and had fallen in with a bad crowd.
The celebrity chef turned out to be a hopeless criminal though after police found D’Acampo’s DNA on a cigarette butt he had left at the scene.
D’Acampo, now 48, first raised suspicions with staff at a pawn shop when he tried to sell the rare instruments – and produced his real driving licence as proof of identity.
The prized guitars were discovered in a shed in the back garden of D’Acampo’s then home in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
After the Family Fortunes presenter hit the big time, Young told how he had forgiven the star but later spoke of the hurt he had endured after Stacey died of brain cancer aged just 52 in 2018.
Gino D’Acampo was involved in a 1998 raid on singer Paul Young’s home
Paul Young (pictured) saw D’Acampo steal £4,000 worth of guitars from his property along with treasured items of his late wife
The haul had contained recordings of her voice that were never returned.
Young, 69, said: ‘When Stacey went there were certain bits of music I never got back.
‘Let’s say that – and that hurt me.’
Speaking to Birmingham Live back in 2019, D’Acampo reflected on the incident as a ‘mistake’ and said: ‘I was a very young boy… you make those mistakes.
‘The secret is to learn and to move on’.
