Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
YULE THIEF
£14m Hatton Garden jewel raider sent home for Christmas after doing just 3 years behind bars
THE ringleader behind one of Britain’s biggest heists spent Christmas at home after being freed from jail just three and a half years into his seven-year sentence.
Hatton Garden jewel thief John “Kenny” Collins is back at his former council house where he and the rest of the elderly gang split the stolen gems from the £14million raid.
The 78-year-old, who fell asleep while on lookout during the Central London burglary, was released on licence from Belmarsh prison in South East London a month ago.
It means only one of the four convicted ringleaders are still in jail despite prosecutors claiming millions of pounds of stolen jewels are still missing.
Collins’ release sparked fury. Former Met Police chief Peter Kirkham said: “We are talking about lots of victims. Some of them have lost everything, their livelihoods as jewellery dealers and some may not have been insured.
“It can destroy people’s lives and the maximum sentence available to the judge was only 10 years. This is inadequate for top end burglaries with so many victims.”
Collins, who has high blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis, enjoyed the festive period with his friends and family in Islington, North London. Wearing a fleece and looking slimmer than when jailed, he was seen walking to his local shops this week to buy a newspaper.
But Collins faces a further seven-year jail term if he fails to pay a £6.5million confiscation order imposed on him and three other ringleaders.
Described by one of the gang in secret police recordings as “wombat-thick”, he was the wealthiest of the villains with more than £1million in cash and assets
that have so far been found. As well as a £175,000 flat on the Costa del Sol in Spain, police have recovered £661,698 from nine of his bank accounts.
Collins must also hand over another £410,000 – half the value of the home he shares with his common law wife.
He has been given leave by the Court of Appeal to challenge the proceeds of crime order and it is understood he will remain free until that is settled. A hearing is due in February.
Mr Kirkham said: “The proceeds of crime legislation means it’s not like previously where old-style villains would do the jail time knowing they could get out and live the life of Riley.
“As soon as they stick their head above the parapet and buy flash cars or houses the Old Bill will notice and they will be going back to court again.”
The other gang members have all been released apart from Danny Jones, 63, who was jailed last year for an extra three years for another burglary.
Collins was only brought in on the Hatton Garden job on the Easter weekend of 2015 as a favour from his pal, mastermind Brian Reader, 79, who was released last year.
But he fell asleep while on lookout and had to be woken up by the gang member known as Basil the Ghost.
Collins, played by Tom Courtenay in the Hollywood movie King of Thieves, led to the downfall of the villains after driving to the vault in his own Mercedes. Police later traced him using CCTV.
The gang, dubbed the diamond wheezers, ransacked 73 safe deposit boxes at the vault after boring a huge hole in the wall with a diamond-tipped drill. One member was later heard boasting: “We’ve pulled off the biggest robbery in the f ***** g world.”
But the mob’s hopes of retiring with a gold-plated pension came crashing down after Reader walked away and they made a string of mistakes.
Collins was put under surveillance within 10 days and watched as he continued to meet gang member Terry Perkins, Reader and Jones at The Castle pub in Islington and nearby Scotti’s Cafe. The total value of the burglary is contested, but the courts agreed it was a minimum of £13.6million.
A large amount was recovered after the crooks were arrested and following searches in a North London cemetery.
The crime had descended into mistrust and recrimination.
Perkins and Jones were determined not to give Reader a penny from the job.
The pair also suspected Collins of getting the best loot. Perkins died in jail from a heart attack last year aged 69.
Two other gang members of the gang, Carl Wood, 61, and 62-year-old William Lincoln, were given six and seven years respectively when sentenced with the ringleaders in 2016.
One Last Job: The extraordinary life of Brian Reader, Britain’s most prolific thief, by Tom Pettifor and Nick Sommerlad, Mirror Books, £8.99