BOXER Chris Eubank, robbed of £100,000 jewellery on a train, made an astonishing confession today: "I have some respect for the thief."

He said: "I know it might sound funny but he took jewellery and that doesn't hurt anybody.

"I respect the fact he did not rob an old lady. He robbed me. And I can take it. I'm insured and it can all be replaced."

The ex-WBO super-middleweight champ, who lives in Hove, even added a word of advice for the robber: "Don't get caught. You'll go to prison."

This isn't the first time Eubank has expressed regard for villains.

He once received a Sussex Police award for catching a thief with a three-punch combination after the man grabbed a tray of gems from a shop in The Lanes, Brighton.

He admitted after the award ceremony: "I only hit him because he knocked an old lady over as he ran."

Eubank said he would not have stepped in otherwise, adding that the thief must have needed the money.

laborate

Eubank's latest brush with the criminal world happened as he was travelling home on a train from Victoria after interviewing sports stars, including Linford Christie, on Talk Radio.

Eubank, who describes himself as "streetwise and pretty cute", may have fallen for an elaborate sting.

He was sitting in a first-class compartment when a woman asked him if she could borrow a pen. He said he did not have one and minutes later the woman, now in another carriage, went into what looked like life-or-death convulsions.

It was while he was helping her that the thief sneaked into his compartment, rifled his holdall and stole a bag containing a £52,000 Cartier bracelet watch, diamond cufflinks, and an £8,000 diamond stallion brooch.

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