SEVEN MEMBERS OF a gang who broke into a vault in London last year and stole £14 million in gold and jewellery have been found guilty.
The group broke into the building the vault was in via a side door over the Easter bank holiday weekend.
Once inside, they disabled a lift, climbed down the shaft and drilled through the wall. They climbed through the hole and accessed a total of 72 safety deposit boxes.
The ringleaders of the group were Terry Perkins, Daniel Jones, Brian Reader and John Collins, pictured above. They had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle.
Today Hugh Doyle, a heating engineer was found guilty of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property. William Lincoln and Carl Wood, both unemployed, were also found guilty of conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property.
Two others pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property.
Speaking today, detective superintendent Craic Turner said this was a thorough and complicated investigation, which meticulously linked the gang together.
The weight of evidence was so strong that half the gang chose to plead guilty. It was an audacious, brazen burglary that was some three years in the planning.
So far police have recovered stolen property worth just over £3.7 million.
These jewels were recovered from a cemetery:
“Hatton Garden jewellers were amongst those who put their stock in the vaults during the bank holiday. They lost tens of thousands of pounds worth of jewellery, and for others it was part of their pension fund,” said Turner.
One man who has become known as ‘Basil’ is still wanted in connection with the burglary. Police are offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction and the recovery of the outstanding property.
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