£1M Diamond Stolen

Thieves last night made away with an estimated £5 million worth of jewelry including the famous Rose Diamond sold to Dame Ashton only last week for £1 million. Dame Ashton has not been available for comment but friends say she is `devastated'. Detective Inspector Grant who heads up Carlisle's burglary division declined to speculate on the thieves' identities but did state that he would be working closely with Special Branch and Interpol. When asked if that meant the police suspected the involvement of Henry Littleton - Dame Ashton's husband who disappeared in suspicious circumstances last August - DI Grant replied that `anything was possible, but [he] would be very interested to catch up with him.'

Henry Littleton disappeared last year on August 24th just hours before the police could question him in regard to the theft of paintings, including one Rembrandt, from various private collections in the north of England. In 1992 he retired from the army where he served as a security systems expert, and after his retirement he worked as a security consultant affiliated with Bennet, Fisher and Worthington, a firm that specializes in art galleries. It was while installing a new vault at Elmview, Dame Ashton's manor house near Buttermere in the Lake Distrinct, that he met his future wife, and they married in the Spring of '94.

Sources close to the investigation say that evidence points to at least two thieves in last night's raid, and suggests that the thieves had prior knowledge of the manor's sophisticated security. However, although suspicion lies heavily on Henry Littleton, the police are actively following other lines of enquiry. A friend of Dame Ashton who wishes to remain anonymous claims that `Dame Ashton's fortune has recently taken a turn for the worse with the crash of the DotCom share prices'. Dame Ashton was in attendance at a Gala event in London last night but police are said to be `keen to talk to' Geoffrey Rider, a close friend of Dame Ashton and alleged associate of Henry Littleton.

What all this amounts to is unclear at this time, but whether this is a genuine theft or an insurance scam the police forces not only of this country but also throughout Europe are on the lookout for the Rose Diamond which is unlikely therefore ever to be seen in public again.