Three men found guilty of £14m Hatton jewel raid

Three men have been found guilty of being involved in the £14 million Hatton Garden raid '“ believed the biggest burglary in British history.

The raiders accessed Hatton Garden Safety Deposit Box Ltd via a tunnel made with a drill. Picture: PA

The gang of thieves carried out the “sophisticated” and meticulously planned break-in over the Easter weekend last year. They ransacked 73 boxes at Hatton Garden Safety Deposit Ltd after using a drill to bore a hole into the vault wall. Valuables worth up to £14 million, including gold, diamonds and sapphires, were taken.

Two thirds of the items remain unrecovered.

Carl Wood, 58, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire and William Lincoln, 60, of Bethnal Green, east London, were convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property.

Jon Harbinson, 42, of Benfleet, Essex, was cleared of the two offences. He was accused of transporting goods stolen in the raid to the exchange on 19 May. Harbinson was asked to look after three bags at his home by his uncle, Lincoln, having been told they did not contain anything important. He told jurors he never looked in the bags while they were in his possession. He denied he had been paid to look after the bags.

Plumber Hugh Doyle, 48, of Enfield, north London, was found guilty of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property between 1 January and 19 May.

Speaking after his conviction, Doyle said: “We are considering our position and it is very likely that we will appeal the conviction.”

He was readmitted on bail, despite his conviction for being involved in an “extremely significant matter”.

None of the men showed any reaction as the verdicts were read.

Another thief, known only as “Basil”, let his co-conspirators into the building by opening the fire escape from inside. He has not been identified. The Met’s Flying Squad detectives have renewed their appeal for information about him and offered a £20,000 reward for information that leads to his prosecution and conviction.

Ringleaders John “Kenny” Collins, 75; Daniel Jones, 60; Terry Perkins, 67; and Brian Reader, 76, pleaded guilty last September to conspiracy to commit burglary.

It can now also be reported that Perkins’s daughter Terri Robinson, 35, of Enfield, faces being jailed alongside him after she pleaded guilty to concealing, converting or transferring criminal property.

Her brother-in-law Brenn Walters, 43, who is also known as Ben Perkins, also admitted the same offence.