Robbery of the millennium could have come from a James Bond film

Published on Tuesday 19 February 2002 00:00

This is the timetable of events in the attempt to steal £200 million worth of diamonds from the Millennium Dome:

31 December, 1999: The Millennium Star plays a key role in the Dome’s opening celebration on New Year’s Eve - at ten minutes to midnight, laser beams are directed at the gem, which fill the Dome with sparkling shafts of light.

1 September, 2000: One of the suspects visits the Dome with a video camera but is himself filmed by undercover police.

7 September, 2000: Dome chairman David James is told by police that there could be a raid and that there are certain "risk days" when it may happen. Undercover officers move in.

6 November, 2000: The diamonds are replaced with a set of crystal fakes. The Dome is put on "a high state of alert" and 90 armed officers are moved into and around the building. The raid was to have taken place on this day, but the speedboat skipper who was to have helped the gang escape across the Thames said the tide was not right, and it was postponed for 24 hours.

7 November, 2000: The gang tried to steal the diamonds by crashing into the Dome in a bulldozer. In scenes reminiscent of a James Bond film, the raiders set off smoke bombs before attempting to remove the diamonds with sledgehammers and a nail-gun.

8 November, 2000: Eight men from south-east London, Kent and East Sussex are charged in connection with the botched raid.

13 November, 2000: A ninth man is arrested and charged.

27 May, 2001: A further suspect, a 46-year-old London man, is arrested in Spain.

8 November, 2001: Six men go on trial at the Old Bailey for "robbery of the millennium".

4 December, 2001: The jurors at the trial are taken to visit the now-empty Dome.

10 December, 2001: Wayne Taylor, 35, of Tonbridge, Kent, is freed after being found not guilty of charges of conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to steal, on the direction of Judge Michael Coombe.

18 February, 2002: Four of the men are found guilty of plotting to carry out the robbery. A fifth is cleared of the robbery charge but found guilty of conspiracy to steal the diamonds.