Burglar sentenced after attempting to break into Anya Taylor-Joy’s bedroom

A man has been sentenced after attempting to break into a bedroom where Hollywood actor Anya Taylor-Joy and her husband, musician Malcolm McRae, had barricaded themselves during a burglary at a London mansion.

Kirk Holdrick, 43, was one of two masked intruders who forced entry into the property in the early hours of February 12, 2023. Wearing balaclavas, the suspects smashed their way inside before being confronted by McRae, who had gone to investigate the sound of breaking glass.

According to testimony presented at Wood Green Crown Court, McRae retreated to the bedroom and locked the door, barricading himself and Taylor-Joy inside. Armed only with a lamp, he warned the intruders that he had a gun as they attempted to pry open the bedroom door with a crowbar. The suspects fled shortly afterward, apparently startled and empty-handed.

CCTV footage captured the men climbing a wall to access the home and triggering a security light. Prosecutors indicated the burglary may have been targeted due to Taylor-Joy’s presence at the residence. Police arrived to find the couple still barricaded inside.

Holdrick initially denied involvement, claiming DNA recovered from the scene was left during a previous visit to the property for a party. However, he later pleaded guilty to the offense in December.

The repeat offender, who has convictions dating back to his teenage years and was previously jailed for life in 2005 for armed robbery, has now received an additional three-year prison sentence for the burglary.

Just nine days after the London incident, Holdrick carried out another home invasion in Sandbanks, where victims were tied up at gunpoint and valuables worth approximately £200,000 were stolen. He is already serving a 12-year sentence for that crime alongside his life term.