Hatton Garden gang gems worth nearly £14m, thieves admit

A minimum value of £13.69 million has been placed on valuables stolen in the Hatton Garden raid, a court heard.

The prosecution have submitted that the benefit figure from the theft was £13,690,331.75.

Estimates have previously ranged between £15m and £35m.  

Ringleaders John ‘Kenny’ Collins, 77, of Islington, north London; Daniel Jones, 63, of Enfield, north London; Terry Perkins, 69, of Enfield; and the group’s oldest member Brian Reader, 78, of Dartford, Kent, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.

In March 2016 Collins, Jones and Perkins were each given a seven-year prison term for their involvement in the burglary over the 2015 Easter bank holiday weekend.

The gang drilled a gigantic hole through a concrete wall from a connecting lift shaft to enter the safety deposit room

John Collins (top left), 77, and Daniel Jones (top centre), 63, appeared in the dock at Woolwich Crown Court while  Terry Perkins (top right), 69, was not well enough to attend the hearing. Bottom row, left to right: Carl Wood (59), William Lincoln, 60, and Hugh Doyle 

John Collins (top left), 77, and Daniel Jones (top centre), 63, appeared in the dock at Woolwich Crown Court while Terry Perkins (top right), 69, was not well enough to attend the hearing. Bottom row, left to right: Carl Wood (59), William Lincoln, 60, and Hugh Doyle 

William Lincoln, 60, of Bethnal Green, east London, was found guilty of the same offence and one count of conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property.

Lincoln was also given a seven-year sentence.

The gang ransacked 73 boxes at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit in London’s jewellery quarter after using a drill to bore a hole into the vault wall.

A confiscation hearing at Woolwich Crown Court was told the figure represents what has been recovered since the Easter 2015 raid, and what remains outstanding.

Estimates of the value of the stones taken from the safe deposits over the Easter weekend of 2015 have ranged from £15m to £35m. Pictured: The scene after the robbery  

Estimates of the value of the stones taken from the safe deposits over the Easter weekend of 2015 have ranged from £15m to £35m. Pictured: The scene after the robbery  

The burglary was one of the biggest in British history and made headlines around the world in 2015. Pictured are forensic officers at the scene

The burglary was one of the biggest in British history and made headlines around the world in 2015. Pictured are forensic officers at the scene

Referring to the sum, prosecutor Philip Evans QC said: ‘That is an agreed amount to reflect the minimum amount stolen, but the amount to be repaid by these individual defendants remains subject to argument.

‘The figure of £13.69m will be the amount ordered in terms of benefit for those jointly part of the order. That for the moment is Mr Collins, Mr Jones and Mr Perkins.’

The court heard the amount is contested in relation to Reader, and that negotiations and conversations are still ongoing in relation to Lincoln.

Reader pulled out from the raid after the gang failed to gain entry to the vault on the first night of the bank holiday weekend burglary.

Mr Evans said: ‘That 13.69m includes just over £2.9m valuation for the pearls.’

He added: ‘That figure represents the amount stolen and included those items which have been recovered.’

Brian Reader, 78, was not well enough to attend the hearing

Brian Reader, 78, was not well enough to attend the hearing

Collins, who cut a frail figure in the dock, and Jones were the only two of the gang to be produced in court on Monday.

At the end of the trial in January 2016, approximately two thirds of the haul had not been recovered.

Items of jewellery including gold chains and rings and many paper packages used in the jewellery trade, known as Brifkas, containing individual precious stones, are still missing.

In November, Carl Wood, 59, was ordered to pay back £50,500 within three months or face a default term of imprisonment of 18 months.

Wood, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, was found guilty of conspiracy to burgle and one count of conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property.

He was jailed for six years.

Also convicted was plumber Hugh Doyle, of Enfield, north London, who was found guilty of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property between January 1 and May 19, 2015.

He was jailed for 21 months, suspended for two years.

A separate confiscation hearing for him will take place next week.



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk