Old-timers in dock for spectacular heist
They shuffled into the courtroom looking more like a casting call for the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine than a gang alleged to have been involved in one of the most audacious raids in decades.
Two of the Hatton Garden heist suspects struggled to hear the clerk, and their alleged accomplices were clad in cardigans and were greying or balding – or both.
The group, which
includes three pensioners and has a combined age of 490, was assembled in the dock of Westminster magistrates’ court after a series of police raids in connection with the London jewellery burglary carried out over the Easter bank holiday.
Before District Judge Tan Ikram could proceed, they were asked to confirm their names and addresses.
John Collins, 74, struggled when he was asked for his address. Collins, who has lived on a council estate in Hackney for 20 years, spoke in a strong east London accent as he declared: ‘‘I can’t hear.’’
The clerk tried again: ‘‘Do you have an address? Somewhere where you live?’’
Collins looked around, clearly still in difficulty. He was assisted by his co-defendant Paul Reader, nearly 25 years his junior, who repeated the question for him.
William Lincoln, 59, a former lorry driver who walks with a limp and wore glasses on a chain around his neck, also appeared to have a problem hearing the clerk.
He eventually stated his address as being in Bethnal Green, east London, where he is believed to live with one of his three daughters.
Reader’s father, Brian, at 76 the oldest of the group, wore a brown cardigan and was supported by family and friends in the public gallery. When they waved at Reader, from Dartford, Kent, he nodded almost imperceptibly in their direction.
The men all face a charge of conspiracy to burgle. The group also includes Terry Perkins, 67, a former property developer, Hugh Doyle, 48, a plumber, and Daniel Jones, 58. All three live in Enfield, north London. Carl Wood, 58, of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, has also been charged.
Edmund Hall, for the prosecution, told the judge that the case was a ‘‘notorious one which has been the subject of much media attention’’.
He said: ‘‘The burglars broke into the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company over the Easter weekend. Some 73 safe deposit boxes were opened. The full value has yet to be ascertained but it runs into excess of £10 million [NZ$21m].’’
There were no bail applications during the five-minute hearing and the group was remanded in custody. They will appear at Southwark Crown Court next month.
The group had travelled to the court in a convoy of four vans carrying two suspects each. A helicopter hovered overhead and two Range Rovers with armed officers waited at the court, where a nearby road was sealed off.
The court appearance came as Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad announced the arrest of another suspect, who lives in Essex and at 42 is the youngest.
Detectives launched a series of raids on Wednesday in London and Kent.
Police believe the perpetrators clambered down a lift shaft into the basement before using a diamond-tipped drill to tear into the vault. A tenth suspect in the raid, a 43-year-old man from north London, was bailed on Thursday.