Lord Sugar thanks police for burglary payback order

Lord Sugar's Essex home was targeted by a thief a few years ago

Lord Sugar has thanked a police force after the daughters of a serial burglar who targeted his home were ordered to pay almost £100,000 back to victims.

David Buisson stole mostly cash and jewellery from homes in Epping Forest and Canvey Island - including Lord Sugar's Essex home - between December 2015 and June 2017.

He was ordered to pay compensation to eight of his victims, including almost £174,000 to Lord Sugar, at a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act in 2019.

Lord Sugar said he was "impressed by the way this investigation has been handled", adding: "I hope that this result acts as a deterrent to others who think it's acceptable to make money from criminal activity."

According to Essex Police, a money laundering investigation into the serial burglar's daughters - Tailah Morris-Buisson, 30, and Bella Morris-Buisson, 26 - was launched following their father's conviction.

It resulted in the pair being ordered to pay a total of £95,440 to the eight victims of their father's crimes.

David Buisson stole £914,000 of valuables from homes and businesses in Essex and was jailed for eight years

Inquiries by the force's Economic Crime Unit revealed the sisters' lifestyle had been heavily funded by their father's criminality, with thousands of pounds deposited into their accounts over the period of his offending.

It was alleged they set up an electric motorcycle company in Abridge in an attempt to disguise their father's criminal assets while he was evading police, the force said.

The pair were arrested in October 2017 and were charged with acquiring criminal property and two counts of concealing or disguising criminal property.

Tailah Morris-Buisson, of Church Langley, and Bella Morris-Buisson, of Epping, were convicted of the charges last October, with the former receiving a 24-month suspended sentence and the latter a 20-month suspended sentence.

At a Proceeds of Crime hearing in May, Tailah Morris-Buisson was ordered to pay £94,465.05 in compensation to the eight victims of her father's crimes, an Essex Police spokesperson said.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Bella Morris-Buisson was ordered to pay £975, the force added.

The force's financial investigator, Marie Hall, said the sisters had benefited financially from their father's criminality.

"Tailah owned a property which had been transferred to her by David Buisson before the offences but could still be confiscated to repay the victims," she said.