A jeweller has appeared in court over the infamous Hatton Garden gem heist – amid claims he could be the missing gang member known as ‘Basil the Ghost’.
Michael Seed was remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates Court today, almost three years to the day after the audacious raid on a vault beneath London’s diamond quarter.
The 57-year-old, from Islington, north London, is yet to enter pleas and will appear at Woolwich Crown Court next month charged with conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to conceal or disguise criminal property.
Michael Seed, a jeweller suspected of being the final member of the Hatton Garden gang, appeared in court today
A court sketch of Seed, who was remanded in custody until he can appear before a judge next month. The £25million raid on the safety deposit box firm (right) was one of the most audacious in British criminal history
The grey-haired suspect, wearing jeans and a blue and white checked shirt under a green jacket, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and that he is English.
Seed works as a jeweller and ‘fashions jewellery’, his lawyer James Reilly said
Seed was arrested three years after the £25million Easter weekend heist. He was held following a raid in Islington, north London, two miles from the capital’s diamond district.
The Hatton Garden gang tunnelled into a basement vault over two nights in 2015.
They broke into dozens of metal security boxes and made off with a record-breaking haul of cash, gold, jewellery and gemstones.
Only £4million of loot has ever been recovered.
A CCTV still shows a Hatton Garden raider said to have got away after the jewellery raid
John Collins, Daniel Jones, Terry Perkins and Brian Reader (pictured, left to right) were jailed over the raid. Perkins has since died in Belmarsh prison
Nine people were convicted and jailed for their roles in the raid, one of the biggest in UK history.
Ahead of their jailing, several of them accused another man, who they referred to as ‘Basil’, of arranging the raid.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said yesterday that officers have seized a large number of personal possessions as part of their investigation.
John ‘Kenny’ Collins, now aged 77, Daniel Jones, 61, and Terry Perkins, 69, were all jailed for seven years for their role in the raid. William Lincoln, 62, also got seven years while Carl Wood, 61, and Brian Reader, 79, were given six years.
Perkins died in prison last month after suffering a heart attack.
The hole the gang drilled through the wall of a vault beneath London’s diamond quarter
The scene inside the vault after the raid took place in over the Easter weekend three years ago
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