Have Scotland Yard finally caught mystery Hatton Garden raider ‘Basil’?

Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad have arrested a man over the notorious Hatton Garden jewellery raid – prompting speculation it could be mysterious ‘Basil’ who was never caught over the heist.

Five of the gang of veteran criminals who carried out the infamous £14million raid on London’s jewellery district in 2015 were jailed, and another got a suspended sentence.

But a mystery seventh member of the group, referred to by police only as ‘Basil’, was never caught and is thought to have fled abroad after the heist. 

The Met Police today revealed a 57-year-old man has been arrested over the break-in. 

A spokesman said: ‘Detectives from the Flying Squad investigating the burglary at Hatton Garden Safety Deposit Ltd in April 2015 arrested a 57-year-old man on Tuesday, 27 March on suspicion of non-residential burglary.

‘The man was arrested after a search warrant was carried out at an address in Islington at approximately 07:30hrs.

‘A number of items were seized from the address. The man currently remains in custody in a north London police station.’

The raider known as Basil helped the gang gain entrance to Hatton Garden Safe Deposit, where London’s jewellers kept their stock and was said to have known the building ‘like the back of his hand’.

CCTV images from inside the building showed Basil with a face-mask, a large hat and apparent ginger hair, although this was thought to be a disguise.

One of the gang, Danny Jones, later claimed he was an ex-policeman who worked in security. He said Basil was an ‘eccentric’ who spent years planning the 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

The hole the gang drilled through the wall of a vault beneath London’s diamond quarter