Caine’s Hatton Garden raid film delays hearing

COURT proceedings against the suspect in the Hatton Garden jewellery raid said to be known as “Basil” have been delayed until after the release of a new film about the robbery.

Michael Seed, 58, from Islington, north London, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court yesterday for a pre-trial hearing, charged with conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to launder money, but will not return to court until after the film’s release on Sept 14.

The judge, Christopher Kinch QC, allowed the defence more time to construct a case because of the problems that may arise from the release of King of Thieves starring Michael Caine, Ray Winstone, Tom Courtenay and Jim Broadbent.

Richard Sutton QC, defending, said in court that he wanted to watch the film before the next case management hearing in order to see if any potential problems arose.

“The court has little or no power to deal with it, and little locus to obtain an injunction,” he said.

Judge Kinch told the court: “I have seen trailers on the side of buses and on billboards. It seems the film is imminent. I want to see if any reorganisation is required.” After it became clear that the film is on general release on Sept 14, he extended time for the defence until Sept 28.

The judge told the court that he would be reserving his decision on certain legal aspects of the trial until a later date and that a case management hearing would take place some time after the end of this month.

The trial, which was meant to take place on Sept 24, has already been delayed because of legal issues until Feb 4 2019. The charges, which Mr Seed denies, relate to an incident in Hatton Garden, London’s diamond district, when at least £13.9million of gold, jewellery and cash was stolen over the Easter weekend in 2015.

A drill was used to bore holes into the thick wall at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit and burglars ransacked 73 safe deposit boxes and escaped with their contents.

Mr Seed was arrested at his flat in Islington in March this year.

King of Thieves has already caused controversy before its release, with victims of the raid saying it is “glorifying” a crime that has left many of them in financial ruin.

The film, which is billed as a comedy, sees the robbers cracking jokes in thick cockney accents throughout. David Joffe, treasurer of the London Diamond Bourse, a gems trading floor that also represents the capital’s jewellers and jewellery shops, confirmed the raid’s victims were unhappy about the film.

“Some of the stuff stolen wasn’t insured and there have been serious problems getting the money back,” he said. “A lot of people have been left badly out of pocket and serious amounts of stolen property is still missing. To make a comedy about it is even worse. I don’t think it’s funny at all. People lost their livelihoods and went out of business.”

Just over £4 million has been recovered so far, but vast amounts of gold, diamonds, sapphires and cash are still missing.