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Gino D’Acampo is known for being the popular, loveable chef that makes regular appearances on ITV’s This Morning.
The daytime TV star has also recently landed the role as host of the network’s Family Fortunes revival, too.
But the charismatic chef has a dark past and, in the late nineties, spent two years in prison for burgling the home of a famous music star.
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In 1998, when Gino was just 21-years-old, he was working as a water at The Orchard restaurant in London, having moved to the UK from Italy a couple of years beforehand.
But the star ended up in a “terrible place”, reports MyLondon and decided to burgle the home of Paul Young, who was living in Mill Hill.
After breaking in he took £4,000 worth of guitars as well as a platinum record.
(Image: ITV)
But after his DNA was matched to a cigarette butt dropped at the London home while he was burgling it, Gino, now 45, was arrested by police.
In court Gino was sentenced to two years in prison for burglary and handling stolen goods.
According to local news reports of the trial police found the stolen guitars in the shed of Gino’s then home in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
Among the stolen items was a platinum record and a rare Mexican Candelas Bajo Sexto 12 string guitar.
D’Acampo, who was going by his original surname Gennaro at the time, burgled the home on the eve of Young’s tour of Belgium.
(Image: Mirrorpix)
Gino also took a video recorder, a fax machine, a mountain bike, some cash and some jewellery from the singer’s home.
Young, 65, was in Southampton on the day of the burglary and his wife and children were in Italy.
His au pair was the only person meant to be in the five-bedroomed house, later sold for more than £1million.
The court heard that D’Acampo befriended Young’s former au pair after meeting her in a bar.
He admitted to visiting Young’s house two days before the burglary, but only to pick up the au pair.
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Initially Gino admitted to the crimes before recanting this confession later.
Since his release and turning his life around though Gino has admitted he was in a bad place at the time and even apologised to Paul over the phone in 2009.
He previously told What’s on TV: “It was a dreadful experience, but in life I’ve learned to make good come out of everything.
“I thought, ‘This is not going to drag me down, this is going to make me a better man. So I came out of prison a man with a plan, determined to set up a business importing Italian ingredients.”
Young is also philosophical now when he reflects on the incident, as he told the Evening Standard in 2011: “I don’t hold it against him. He said it was bad and he apologised, and I did get most of the stuff back.
“Maybe he needed his wrist slapping and he got that. He said he was in a terrible place and wanted to turn his life around.”
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