‘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 older brother, Zakari Vallender, who is an economic analyst for Network Rail, jurors were told.

The pair had been planning to write an application for Jack for an internship at JP Morgan, according to Jack.

Jack Vallender was concerned that he would wouldn’t be able to meet his brother because he and his father had had to retrieve his phone that he had mistakenly left in an auditorium after attending a conference on investment banking.

Jack, who lived in Stroud in Gloucestershire with his mother at the time and attended Marling Grammer School, said: ‘JP Morgan is one of the top firms for investment banking.

‘If I could get my foot in the door, that would really help me.

‘If I could get that internship, that would be massive – it was the one thing I wanted to do.

‘I was worried about not having enough time to do the application.’

The teenager explained that he was passionate about becoming an investment banker and had studied maths, physics and economics at school.

He is expecting his A level results on Thursday.

Jack said: ‘Whenever we would go to London we would go there [Fortnum & Mason].

‘There’s nowhere like it where we live, there’s something quite exotic about it.

‘First of all, we went to Piccadilly Circus and then to Fortnum & Mason because there were other shops along the way.’

The court heard how Douglas Vallender had spent around £260 on four pairs of Levi jeans minutes before the alleged shoplifting took place.

Jack explained that he had been in a rush to meet his brother and that his father was feeling unwell and was planning to return to the hotel, which is why the pair forgot to pay.

‘We said to the security guard that it was a mistake and that we wanted to pay but they wouldn’t accept it,’ he said.

‘We had no need to steal, he [Douglas] doesn’t need to steal.

‘I have never planned or thought about stealing anything, I’m not that sort of person.

‘Why would I plan to come up [to London] and steal champagne with my dad?’

Jack’s defence counsel Daniel Kersh said: ‘There’s an implication, Jack, that your father took you into that store and gave you a nod and a wink.’

‘My dad wouldn’t force me to go into a shop and steal champagne,’ Vallender replied.

Douglas and Jack Vallender, of Wheal Venture Road, St Ives, Cornwall both deny theft from a shop.

The trial continues.