Yahoo News Hatton Garden heist: how much was stolen and where are they now?
A group of aged career criminals coming together in the hopes of pulling off one last job. It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood film but in fact, it's the story behind one of Britain's biggest ever real-life heists.
The Hatton Garden theft saw millions of pounds worth of gold, diamonds, and sapphires stolen from London's jewellery district, and it is the subject of an ITV drama currently trending on Netflix.
But what's the real story behind the popular show? How much was stolen? And what happened to the gang - men in their 60s and 70s - once their crime was uncovered?
Here's everything you need to know about the infamous heist and robbers behind it, many of whom already had a string of notorious crimes under their belts. Plus, how they were caught.
What was the Hatton Garden Heist?
The 'Hatton Garden heist' is the name given to a robbery carried out in London’s Hatton Garden, the centre of the UK’s diamond trade, over the Easter weekend of 2015. It involved a group of men – most of whom were known to be professional conmen – and three years of planning before they attempted to carry it off, with the hopes of retiring in luxury. Leading the group was notorious criminal Brian Reader but we’ll get onto his gang in more detail in just a sec…
How much money was stolen?
When, after three years of planning, the gang set to work during the Easter weekend of 2015, they had their sights on a particular target: London's Hatton Garden, the city’s famous diamond quarter.
The raiders forced their way inside an underground safety deposit facility before opening upwards of 70 boxes of goods. In total, the burglars stole around £14m worth of cash and jewels, which they reportedly stashed inside wheelie bins.
Crucially, they got away with their hoard before the crime was uncovered, marking the event as the “largest burglary in English legal history,” according to the prosecutor who would later take up the case.
How were the thieves caught?
The Hatton Garden thieves were no amateurs, with some involved having been behind other large-scale operations such as the Brink's-Mat robbery (one of the largest gold heists of all time which saw £26 million stolen from a London bank in 1983) and the Security Express raid (which saw £6 million stolen in 1983, making it UK's largest ever cash robbery at the time).
However, the group made a series of mistakes despite their experience and meticulous planning. Mobile phone evidence, CCTV and number plate recognition cameras all worked against them.
Peter Spindler, the then-Scotland Yard head of specialist crime investigations, said the thieves were "analogue criminals operating in a digital world" and that "they lacked the knowledge to defeat digital detectives."
It also didn't help that one of the raiders was caught bragging about the burglary in his local pub just a few weeks later... and undercover police caught the exchange on camera.
Where are the thieves now?
All of the robbers, who had a combined age of 448, were caught, according to The Sun. Though much of the money has yet to be repaid, members of the gang, including their leader, have been released from prison.
Brian Reader, the mastermind behind the plan, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit burglary.
But he was released with remission in 2018, aged 79, at which time he was struggling with his health. Reader passed away at his home in Dartford in 2023. He was a 'retired gardener', according to his death certificate. Reader was also involved in the Brink's-Mat robbery of 1983, along with fellow criminal Kenneth Noye.
As per the BBC, other men involved with the Hatton Garden heist included Daniel Jones, who admitted conspiracy to burgle, John Kenneth Collins, who admitted conspiracy to burgle, and Terence Perkins, who admitted conspiracy to burgle.
Michael Seed was convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property; William Lincoln was convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property; and Carl Wood was convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property. Hugh Doyle was convicted of conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property.
The gang has since been dubbed 'Dad's Army' and the 'diamond wheezers'.
Hatton Garden is available to stream on Netflix now.
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