Ringleader of 2015 Hatton Garden raid dies in prison
TERRY PERKINS, one of the ringleaders of the Hatton Garden safe deposit raid, has died just days after being told to pay back £6million or serve more time in prison.
The 69-year-old had been serving seven years for his part in Britain’s biggest burglary in April 2015, and had refused to reveal the whereabouts of the missing jewellery, gems and cash. The amount stolen was put at £14million but some believe the total value could be as much as £200million.
Perkins, who had been suffering from a heart complaint, died at HMP Belmarsh in south east London and takes some details of the raid to his grave. His death will be investigated by the Prison Service Ombudsman.
It was just last week at Woolwich Crown Court that Perkins was ordered to pay back more than £6.5 million – his share of the spoils – or face seven more years in jail. His barrister told the court then that Perkins would have no choice but to serve the sentence as there was “no prospect” of any repayment.
Terry Perkins was a career criminal whose CV also included a raid on the Security Express depot in Shoreditch in 1983, which netted his gang £6million.
He was running a sweet shop and dealt in property when he was recruited for the Shoreditch raid by an East End criminal, John Knight. Found guilty of robbery, Perkins, who was 37 at the time, was jailed for 22 years, as was his co-conspirator. Last year, it emerged that Perkins and Daniel Jones, a fellow Hatton Garden gang member, had been accused of carrying out an almost identical raid on a Mayfair jewellers in 2010.
Perkins and Jones went on trial last year for that crime, but the case collapsed. Perkins was due to stand trial again later this year.
In recent years he had been plagued by ill health, with his barrister explaining that he needed to take 29 pills daily.