FURY AS CON

BY TOM PETTIFOR and NICK SOMMERLAD 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 is still in jail despite prosecutors claiming millions of pounds of stolen jewels are still missing.

Collins’s release sparked fury. Former Metropolitan Police chief Peter Kirkham said: “We are talking about lots of AUDACIOUS Hole made by gang at the jewellery vault 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 thinner than when he was jailed, he was seen walking to 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

Millions of pounds compensation order imposed on ringleaders