Jewel thieves jailed after Jamie Oliver chef's confession

A pair of jewellery thieves have been found guilty of a £4million robbery because their "inside man" confessed after appearing in a Jamie Oliver TV show.

Basildon crown court heard that Tom Baisden was working at Southend airport in May 2001 when he helped the thieves make off with more than 2,000 pieces of Cartier jewellery. He was questioned but no one was charged.

Baisden, a drug addict at the time, turned around his life after appearing in 2004 in Fifteen, which followed trainee chefs on a scheme set up by Oliver for disadvantaged youths, the court heard.

Last year, Baisden called police and named three men - his cousin Gary Maughan, a 43-year-old nurse of Hackney, and unemployed brothers Joseph Xenofondos, 35, of Loughton, and Marios Xenofondos, 39, of Stoke Newington - as his accomplices.

Joseph Xenofondos and Maughan were found guilty of conspiracy to steal and jailed for five years. Maughan was sentenced to an additional year for handling stolen goods.

Marios Xenofondos was acquitted.

Baisden, 28, of Thundersley, Essex, had admitted theft and perverting the course of justice. He will be sentenced at a later date.