Diamond heist was ‘largest burglary in English legal history’

The World
The robbery resulted in the loss of an estimated £14m (US$21m) in cash, jewels and valuables.

A diamond robbery at a safety deposit vault in London earlier this year was the ‘largest burglary in English legal history,’ according to prosecutors at a trial for four men accused of pulling off the heist.

Three of the men are accused of conspiracy to commit burglary, while a fourth man is accused of conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property, and other charges. Four others have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary in connection with the crime.

The robbery resulted in the loss of an estimated £14 million ($21 million) in cash, jewels and valuables, with much of the loot still unaccounted for. One of the accused, who has admitted his involvement in the robbery, buried jewels, gold and gems underneath two of his own family’s memorial grave stones. Elsewhere, police have described uncovering bags containing a "vast quantity" of precious stones.

The Hatton Garden robbery is believed to have been planned carefully. According to police, the plans involved disabling an elevator, climbing down the elevator shaft, and using angle grinders and crowbars to breach the perimeter of the basement where the vault was kept. They then used a specialist diamond-tipped drill to cut a tunnel through 20 inches of reinforced concrete surrounding the vault.

When police uncovered the theft, 73 of the 999 safe deposit boxes within it had been opened.

The trial continues. 

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.