A ROBBERY THAT saw thieves break into a vault room packed with gold, jewels and diamonds employed a plan that seems straight from a film.
Original reports said that the Hatton Garden vault robbery in London had netted “hundreds of thousands” for the band of seven criminals, but that was quickly revised to hundreds of millions.
Today, the Metropolitan Police released photos of the scene and revealed how they believe the Easter weekend plan was executed.
A spokesperson says the group probably broke into the building the vault was located in via a side door, while most people were gone for several days.
Once in, its members disabled a lift, climbed down the shaft, drilled through the wall, and accessed 72 safe-deposit boxes.
Drilling through the vault wall would have been done using a heavy duty drill.
Here is the hole left behind:
They upended the room, taking gold, jewels and diamonds from 72 safe deposit boxes before speeding off in a waiting van.
A call was recorded by police that an alarm was going off at the vault, but it was not recorded as being serious enough to send a police car to.
Detective Superintendent Craig Turner, head of the Flying Squad said his team has recovered approximately 400 exhibits, including items for DNA profiling, fingerprints and other evidence.
The hours of forensic work and inquiries have been vital in order to ensure we are able to exploit all investigative opportunities to their fullest extent and assist us in identifying those individuals responsible.
“We appreciate that this situation has been frustrating for those affected by this crime and thank those individuals for their ongoing patience and support.”
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