Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Hatton Garden raider ‘had keys’
Accused ‘let himself’ in to safety deposit building
HATTON Garden heist alarm specialist “Basil” may have used a key to get in through the front door of the safe deposit building, a jury has heard.
Michael Seed, 58, is alleged to be the raider caught on CCTV wearing a wig and face mask while helping to steal £14million worth of gold, jewels and cash.
The court was shown footage of the man known as Basil, who police also referred to as Male A, taking something from a pocket seconds before opening the front door of 88-90 Hatton Garden.
Asked how Basil got in, Det Sgt Jamie Day told the court: “I would suggest either by a key or had access some other way.”
Another clip captured the raider on the building’s second floor where the lift was disabled, allowing access to the shaft through which the burglars could climb down to the basement vault.
Jurors were also shown images of cut burglar alarm wires. Prosecutors allege it was Seed who disabled the alarm.
The gang stole the loot from 73 safe deposit boxes over the 2015 Easter Bank Holiday weekend after a hole was drilled through the vault wall.
The court has heard that five of the six men who were present during the safe deposit heist – Brian Reader, 79, John “Kenny” Collins, 78, Daniel Jones, 63, Carl Wood, 61, and Terry Perkins, who died last year aged 69 – have been convicted of conspiring to carry out the raid in London’s jewellery quarter.
Just over two miles away police raided Seed’s one-bedroom council flat in Islington last year. He denies two charges of conspiracy to commit burglary and one charge of conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property. The trial at Woolwich crown court in South East London continues.