Simon Cowell spoke to reporters outside his home telling them of the horrifying moment he was woken at 2am by his bodyguard — to be told an intruder had broken into his mansion.
Simon said he and girlfriend Lauren Silverman’s first thoughts were for the safety of 21-month-old son Eric.
Lauren flew out of the UK a few hours later with Eric heading for her home in New York.
Talking to reporters Simon said “It was nerve-racking. Lauren was woken up with me and we checked on Eric.
“That was the first thing we did, to make sure he was OK.'
“Apart from the fact someone broke into my house and stole my stuff, which is scary, it could have been worse. Thankfully no one was hurt."
“But we have the worst guard dogs in the world.”
The burglar got away with cash and jewellery said to be worth several thousand pounds.
But Simon said: “It’s not what they stole, it’s the fact they got into the house. That was the frightening thing, the idea someone was in my house.”
The burglar was spotted as he hurried away from Simon’s home in Holland Park, West London, by a security guard employed by residents to patrol the neighbourhood.
The raider evaded hi-tech security systems AND the X Factor boss’s live-in bodyguard to creep around for nearly 30 minutes in the early hours.
Simon only found out about the raid only when the guard turned up at his front door in Holland Park, West London, and astonished him with the recovered loot.
Lauren flies out of Heathrow Airport with Eric on a flight to New York
He sneaked out with tens of thousands of pounds of jewellery, the Sunday People reports.
But a patrolling security guard in the upmarket neighbourhood spotted him dropping Simon’s passport.
The hero guard, Portuguese-born M’Bathonha Mendes, 34, chased the villain and grabbed his rucksack containing the gems.
He saw the man drop a passport and picked it up. When he saw it was Simon’s passport he realised the man was a burglar and gave chase.
He confronted the burglar and managed to grab a bag of stolen jewellery and other items before the intruder fled. Simon said: “These guys, they do the circuit here. He saw the burglar leave and drop my passport.
“He got out of his car, picked up the passport and realised it was mine."
“He approached the guy but the guy ran off. The guard then told us somebody had burgled the house. We didn’t even know. He’s got a big Christmas present coming.”
Last night Simon said: “This is the second time now someone has got into my house. That’s what’s scary. Because if a nutcase gets in – that’s what I’m really worried about.
“What’s concerning now is how we stop people getting into this house again.”
But Cowell insisted the intrusion would not prompt him to move, saying the break-in could have happened anywhere.
“We’ve just got to get some bigger dogs,” said the boss, whose two terriers did not deter the raid.
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