Burglar who carried out £26m raid on homes of celebrities including Tamara Ecclestone and Frank Lampard is freed from prison just two years into his eight-year sentence

• Alessandro Donati, 46, was released shortly before Christmas and flew to Milan

One of three men who broke into Tamara Ecclestone's home and fled with £26million in loot has been released from prison after just two years in prison.

Alessandro Donati, 46, was sentenced to eight years in prison in November 2021 along with Alessandro Maltese, 47, while Jugoslav Jovanovic, 26, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

MailOnline has learned that Donati was released just before Christmas, while Maltese is expected to be released shortly.

On December 19, he flew home to his native Milan, Italy, and shortly after his return, police searched his house to see if any of the missing cargo was hidden there.

None of the transport was ever recovered and Scotland Yard believes it was taken to Serbia and laundered there.

Alessandro Donati, 46, was sentenced to eight years in prison in November 2021 for breaking into Tamara Ecclestone's home and fleeing with £26 million in loot. He was released from prison after serving only two years of an eight-year sentence. Tamara Ecclestone's home was targeted in the raid in 2019 while she was holidaying with her family in Lapland

Donati was arrested in Italy in October 2020 and extradited to the United Kingdom a month later.

He remained in custody until his trial in November 2021, where he received a sentence of eight years and nine months.

His earliest release date would have been after serving half of his sentence, which would have taken him March 2026, but after 13 months in custody it would have been pushed back to February 2025.

READ MORE: Italian, 43, admits involvement in raid on £25m worth of jewelery at Formula 1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone's Kensington estate

As he was a foreign prisoner for 12 to 18 months prior to that date, he would have had the option of being deported and MailOnline understands he accepted this.

However, he is not subject to any restrictions in Italy as he is no longer part of the British justice system and is free to come and go as he pleases.

His lawyer Angelo Pariani told MailOnline: “I can confirm that my client was released from prison last month and returned to Italy.”

“He served his due sentence and was released after agreeing to be deported to Italy. Now he can do whatever he wants. His commitment to the justice system has ended.

“I would imagine that Ms Ecclestone has been informed but he has no idea where the items taken are, most likely they are in Serbia, he has nothing.”

“The Italian police went to his home upon his return but only found £120 banknotes which had been given to him to pay for his flight.”

“He admitted being involved in the burglaries but he didn't take £26 million, it's probably all in Serbia.” “The police won't find anything on my client.”

The three men – all Italians – were jailed at Isleworth Crown Court in what was believed to be Britain's biggest ever burglary.

All three admitted taking part in a conspiracy to carry out three raids in west London within two weeks in December 2019.

This handout shows the selection of watches stolen from Miss Ecclestone's £70million home in the devastating raid. Alessandro Maltese's 47-year-old comrade, Jugoslav Jovanovic (pictured in his police mugshot), was jailed for his involvement in the 2019 raids

The gang raided the Kensington home of socialite Tamara, as well as that of former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard and his wife Cristine, and the late Leicester City boss Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

Ms Ecclestone, the daughter of F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, had money and jewelery worth around £25 million stolen from her home during a family holiday in Lapland.

In a victim impact statement read out during the trial, Ms Eccelstone said: “It was truly horrific.”

READ MORE: Thieves jailed for 28 years for Britain's biggest burglary attempt escape through back garden before hailing black taxi as court hears her terrified daughter Tamara Ecclestone 'asks if burglars are coming back'

“I'm so scared, I won't leave my daughter alone in the house at night because I just feel like I don't do that to the people I should trust, I'm not sure I can trust anyone. “I was just so scared.”

Ms Ecclestone said wedding presents were among the items stolen and that “made me really sad” and she added: “A lot of it was very personal, I wanted to give some of the items to my daughter one day.”

“It wasn't easy, but I guess now I just think: What if, if there was something worse? It makes me think about all sorts of things and now I'm obsessed with the security, the gates and barbed wires. Spikes and stuff, I don't really want to live my life.'

In his impact assessment, Mr Lampard said: “Neither Christine nor I are sleeping particularly well as a result of this incident.”

“I would like to add that although I have been an unfortunate victim of crime, particularly burglary, before, this incident has had a far greater impact on our lives.”

His wife added: “Since this break-in at my house, I have become much more afraid of being in my own home, I have become less trusting of visitors to my home and I feel unsafe in my home.”

“I have a young daughter and feel vulnerable in a home where I have always felt safe and happy. Since the incident, I have sometimes been unable to sleep because I am sensitive to outside noises and fear another attack.”

Mr. Srivaddhanaprabha's family said, “Our late father's home was a place of reflection and prayer.”

Miss Ecclestone and husband Jay Rutland pictured at the 9th annual Global Gift Gala at the Rosewood Hotel in London in November 2018. She said wedding gifts were among the stolen items. The raid was carried out at Miss Ecclestone's home in west London, which is pictured with Christmas decorations. Outside in this photo, Tamara Ecclestone appears in the new ` Three documentary 'Who Stole Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds?' and reveals that she will always worry about safety at home

“We felt it was the strongest connection to him as he spent his last night there before he died.”

“Since the break-in, our sacred and special bond has been irreparably damaged and violated.”

Last month, a man accused of being involved in the break-ins was arrested in Serbia along with five others.

Mr Pariani told MailOnline his client had been asked to take part in a ` documentary and had been offered payment but declined.

He said: “He doesn't want to say anything about what happened for now. “Maybe in a year or so he'll say something like, he had offers but he turned them down.”