Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish gets £20k guard dog after burglary hell
Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish and model wife Peta get a new £20,000 specially trained guard dog to boost security at family home following knifepoint burglary ordeal
- Mark and Peta got their first German Shepherd months after the armed raid
- They have since bought a second dog of same breed from Elite Protection Dogs
Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish and his model wife Peta have ramped up security at their family home by getting a new guard dog after their horror knifepoint burglary ordeal.
The cycling ace and former Page 3 model got their first £25,000 German Shepherd five months after the armed raid in November 2021.
But after the crooks were jailed for stealing Rolex timepieces worth £700,000 they bought a second dog of the same bread last week.
Both of the German Shepherds came from Elite Protection Dogs, which charges a minimum of £20,000 for its specially trained animals.
Tour de France champ Mark, 37, hailed the pair as ‘my puppies.’
Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish and his model wife Peta have ramped up security at their family home
They have now got two dogs of the same breed to protect their home following the burglary
Elite Protection Dogs
Elite Protection Dogs has 35 years experience supplying trained canines to the rich and famous.
It supplied a Belgian Malinois to World Cup final hero Emiliano Martinez to guard his winner’s medal.
The Aston Villa stopper got the dog just before winning the final in December.
Other footballer clients include Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris – France’s keeper in the final.
Another is ex-Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole.
Boxing champ Tyson Fury also got a £20,000 Rottweiler – called Cash – from the company.
An Elite Protection Dogs spokesperson said: ‘They have had a new addition. Two is always better than one.’
Mark and Peta’s home in Ongar, Essex was targeted by knife-wielding, balaclava-wearing burglars in November 2021, as they slept upstairs.
Reading her victim personal statement from the witness box last month, Peta, 36, said they ‘could potentially sell the property due to the continuing fear’, but in the current economic climate this could cause ‘considerable loss’.
She told how she was ‘in the early stages of pregnancy’ at the time of the robbery, and a time when she ‘should have been happy and excited was then transformed into a period of stress and worry’.
Two Richard Mille watches, valued at £400,000 and £300,000, were among the items taken in the raid at around 2.30am
Peta previously said one of the intruders ‘dragged’ Cavendish ‘from his feet and started punching him’.
One had her husband in a headlock, she said, adding: ‘One of them held a large black knife to his throat and they said ‘where’s the watches?’ and ‘do you want me to stab you?”
Two men were jailed at Chelmsford crown court on February 7.
Romario Henry, 31, of Lewisham, south-east London, denied two counts of robbery but was found guilty after an earlier trial and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Ali Sesay, 28, of Rainham, Kent, admitted two counts of robbery and was jailed for 12 years.
Peta Cavendish speaks to the media outside Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex, on February 7
CCTV image taken from the property of Mark Cavendish showing suspects leaving through the open front gate after the robbery
Romario Henry, left, denied two counts of robbery but was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Ali Sesay, right, admitted two counts of robbery and was jailed for 12 years
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