Defendants charged in connection with theft of jewels, cash and valuables believed to be worth more than £10m appear at Woolwich crown court

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Four men have pleaded guilty to plotting the Hatton Garden heist, in which a gang broke into a concrete vault and stole £10m worth of valuables from scores of safety deposit boxes.

Three pensioners were among those who admitted involvement in the raid that captured the public’s imagination.

John Collins, 74, of Islington, north London; Daniel Jones, 58, of Enfield, north London; Terry Perkins, 67, also of Enfield; and Brian Reader, 76, of Dartford, Kent, pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy to burgle with intent to steal jewellery.

The burglary in Hatton Garden, London, over Easter weekend is believed to have led to around £10m worth of jewels, cash and other valuables being stolen by a gang who bored a hole through a thick concrete wall to enter the vault in the heart of the diamond district.

A total of nine defendants appeared at Woolwich crown court, including two who have yet to enter pleas.

Hugh Doyle, 48, of Enfield; William Lincoln, 60, of Bethnal Green, east London; and John Harbinson, 42, of Benfleet, Essex, denied conspiracy to burgle and are due to face trial on 16 November.



All seven who entered pleas denied a second charge of conspiracy to convert or transfer a quantity of jewellery and other stolen goods between 1 April and 19 May.



The Crown said it would not be pursuing the second charge against the four who had admitted conspiracy to burgle in light of those pleas.

The nine defendants at the hearing sat in a dock behind a Perspex screen, flanked by 13 security guards. The judge asked prosecutor Philip Evans to make sure he spoke into a microphone so the accused could hear the proceedings.

During the heist the gang rifled through 72 secure boxes. Detectives believe they have recovered most of the valuables stolen in the raid.

Police were alerted to the Hatton Garden safety deposit burglary just after 8am on Tuesday 7 April, after the Easter holiday weekend, during which time the facility was closed.

Those behind the theft disabled a lift and clambered into the basement via the shaft before drilling into the vault walls with heavy-duty tools. There had been no forced entry.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A hole in the concrete wall at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

A diamond-tipped drill was used to bore holes into the vault wall and was recovered from the scene. The wall was 2 metres thick and made of reinforced concrete. A hole 25cm high and 45cm wide was cut 89cm off the ground. Police were surprised by the tiny size of the hole.

Detectives and forensic experts were confronted by a chaotic scene, with dust, debris and discarded safety deposit boxes scattered throughout.

Paul Reader, 50, of Dartford, and Carl Wood, 58, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, are yet to enter pleas.

Police were criticised before they made arrests after it emerged they had ignored a burglar alarm that went off at the building while the thieves were inside.

Some 200 officers staged raids to arrest the suspects, after which police hit back: “At times we have been portrayed as if we’ve acted like ‘Keystone Cops’,” Commander Peter Spindler said. “I want to reassure you that in the finest traditions of Scotland Yard these detectives have done their utmost to bring justice for the victims of this callous crime.”

Friends and family of those accused watched from the public gallery.



