Hatton Garden film is ‘no laughing matter’
Victims of the £14m raid express anger at a new film that turns 2015 jewel heist into a comedy caper
AS TRAILERS go, the clip promoting the comedy King of Thieves is suitably packed with gags about an ageing gang of “diamond wheezers” who pulled off Britain’s most audacious jewellery heist.
To a jaunty soundtrack, Sir Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay and Ray Winstone crack jokes in thick Cockney accents about replacement hips and failing hearing as their characters, in their sixties and seventies, plan and execute the 2015 Hatton Garden raid.
With a star-studded cast to play the gang that had a combined age of 448, James Marsh, the director, brags how his film, the third to be made on the London break-in, has “embraced the comedy” of the £14million robbery.
But last night, victims from the City’s diamond district expressed anger that the Ealing-style comedy caper was “glorifying” a crime that left many in financial ruin.
Six elderly thieves were jailed in 2016 for the raid which saw 73 safety deposit boxes ransacked after a diamond tipped drill was used to cut a hole in the underground vault wall at the Hatton Garden Safety Deposit Company.
They escaped with gold, diamonds, sapphires and vast amounts of cash. Just over £4million worth of the haul has been recovered, and a series of confiscation hearings held to try to force the convicts to pay back those who lost millions of pounds.
David Joffe, treasurer of the London Diamond Bourse, a gems trading floor which also represents the capital’s jewellers and jewellery shops, said the heist’s victims, some of whom were gem dealers, were livid yet another film had been made about it.
“I don’t think there are any gentleman robbers and I certainly wouldn’t call any robbers heroes,” Mr Joffe said. “Unfortunately these films glorify such things. I wouldn’t want them made in the first place – it gives robbers credence. The victims are very annoyed about it.
“Some of the stuff stolen wasn’t insured and there have been serious problems getting the money back. A lot of people have been left badly out of pocket and a serious amount of stolen property is still missing.”
He added that making a comedy out of such an appalling crime was particularly hurtful.
“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.”
Ricky Marchant, a chartered loss adjuster who represented 10 of those who were robbed but were lucky enough to be insured, said: “My recollection is the deep upset of those who were uninsured who lost everything. I do wonder what view they take of a film portraying these guys as likeable heroes.”
The film, produced by Working Title for Studiocanal and to be released in two weeks time, is expected to be a box office hit.
Caine, 85, stars as Brian Reader, 77, who was jailed for six years and three months in 2016 for his part in the raid. Meanwhile, Courtenay plays John “Kenny” Collins, 75, Broadbent is Terry Perkins, 67, and Ray Winstone is Daniel Jones, 61, who were each jailed for seven years for their part in the raid. Perkins died in prison earlier this year aged 69.
Last year, saw the release of The Hatton Garden Job, described by The Telegraph as a “Guy Ritchie pastiche”. A year earlier Hatton Garden: The Heist was released. Three separate books have been also written about the raid.
A spokesman for the film company refused to comment.
‘I don’t think there are any gentleman robbers and I certainly wouldn’t call them heroes. It’s just not funny’