GANG NICKED FOR HEIST INCLUDES THREE OAPs
Three OAPs among nine nicked in police swoop
THREE pensioners were among nine men arrested yesterday over the £60million Hatton Garden jewel heist.
More than 200 police officers swooped on at least 12 addresses and seized alleged members of the gang – dubbed The Diamond Geezers – behind the raid.
Detectives found several large bags in one house containing “significant amounts of high value property”.
Police are said to be confident the haul contains numerous precious items stolen in the burglary.
It emerged two of the men arrested include a 76-year-old car dealer and his 50-year-old son.
Brian Reader and his son Brian, also known as Paul, were arrested at their home in Dartford, Kent at 10.30am.
Two other OAPs, aged 74 and 67, and five other men aged between 43 and 59 were arrested in simultaneous raids across London and Kent.
Two other arrests were at an undisclosed location. All the suspects were last night being questioned at a London police station on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle.
A source close to the case said all of the men are “white and British” and fit the profile of “old guard”
We’ve been portrayed as if we have acted like the Keystone cops MET CHIEF SPINDLER
London gangsters. The arrests come just over six weeks after the raid.
But after announcing the arrests, police chiefs were forced to apologise for the force’s failure to respond to an intruder alarm on the first night of the heist.
The force’s Computer Aided Despatch system got the call from the security company but no police response was deemed necessary.
Met commander Peter Spindler said: “We’ve been portrayed as if we have acted like Keystone Cops but I want to reassure you that in the finest traditions of Scotland Yard, these detectives have done their utmost to bring justice to the victims of this callous crime.”
The alleged gang arrested yesterday had been under 24-hour surveillance for a week. Armed officers were on standby during the arrests but did not enter any of the homes.
CCTV images of the raid show six men in builders’ gear entering the safety deposit building after it closed for the Easter weekend.
The gang worked over the bank holiday using cutting equipment to bypass heavy security locks and burrow their way into the central London building.
Police yesterday appealed for information on a white van, registration number DU53 VNG, seen at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit at the time.