Hatton Garden loot to be auctioned
ALMOST £700,000 of jewellery stolen in the Hatton Garden raid is to go up for sale at auction.
The items are part of a £4.3million haul seized after the £13.7million burglary in London’s jewellery quarter.
Some £3,635,000 of the loot – stolen from deposit boxes after a hole was drilled into a vault wall – has been identified and will be returned to owners.
But the rest, including less distinctive items such as chains lacking identifying features, cannot be claimed by any of around 40 victims.
The Metropolitan Police said the goods – worth £689,233 – will be sold to the public, with the auctioneer and date to be decided.
The proceeds will go to the victims and the amount raised will also be deducted from the confiscation order levelled at the four leaders.
The plans emerged at Woolwich Crown Court this week, where the men were each told to pay sums between £6.5million and £7.6million or face seven extra years in jail.
John “Kenny” Collins, 77, Daniel Jones, 63, and Terry Perkins, 69, are serving seven-year sentences, while Brian Reader, 78, is serving six years and three months.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that the total recoverable amount is likely to be only £8.2 million.
They will have to hand over cash and sell their Spanish, Portuguese and UK homes to pay back some of the money. But the court heard some cannot pay their bills and will have to serve their extended sentences. Their ages and various health problems mean they could die behind bars.