‘Champagne thief’ was in a hurry to become a banker and forgot to pay

A property developer’s son accused of stealing eight bottles of champagne from Fortnum & Mason claims he and his father forgot to pay because he was in a rush to apply for an internship with banking giant JP Morgan. Jack Vallender, 18, and Douglas Vallender, 53, swiped £348 worth of bubbly from the famous Piccadilly department store in London’s West End on 1 May, it is alleged. They had been in a hurry because Jack was planning to meet his…