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| The criminal amnesiacs of Hatton Garden forgot that crime doesn’t pay | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| At the end of the much-loved 1969 movie The Italian Job, there is a famous scene of the escaping criminals trapped on a mountainside, their coach pivoting precariously over a precipice. The consummately cool leader of the gang, Charlie Croker (played by Michael Caine), says: “Hang on, lads. I’ve got a great idea.” The scene is an apt metaphor for the real-life fortunes of Britain’s most inventive and notorious thieves. | At the end of the much-loved 1969 movie The Italian Job, there is a famous scene of the escaping criminals trapped on a mountainside, their coach pivoting precariously over a precipice. The consummately cool leader of the gang, Charlie Croker (played by Michael Caine), says: “Hang on, lads. I’ve got a great idea.” The scene is an apt metaphor for the real-life fortunes of Britain’s most inventive and notorious thieves. |
| The allure of acquiring a huge amount of money without having to work too hard for it is as seductive as it is timeless. But what you’d be prepared to do to get it is the defining thing. A great idea is needed of course, plus courage, ingenuity and a bit of luck too. But would you consider stealing to change your life? Would £14m be temptation enough? | The allure of acquiring a huge amount of money without having to work too hard for it is as seductive as it is timeless. But what you’d be prepared to do to get it is the defining thing. A great idea is needed of course, plus courage, ingenuity and a bit of luck too. But would you consider stealing to change your life? Would £14m be temptation enough? |
| That is the total estimated value of jewels and cash stolen last April in a robbery in Hatton Garden, in London. That prize drew a gang of men to spend their Easter weekend drilling through a 50cm-thick concrete wall to break into 73 security boxes and exit without leaving a forensic trace at the scene. | That is the total estimated value of jewels and cash stolen last April in a robbery in Hatton Garden, in London. That prize drew a gang of men to spend their Easter weekend drilling through a 50cm-thick concrete wall to break into 73 security boxes and exit without leaving a forensic trace at the scene. |
| If one puts aside the fact that the raid left the 39 victims who lost their property devastated, it was a great idea worthy of a new British crime film. But, like the cocky cast of The Italian Job, the thieves had carefully planned how to lay their hands on the loot but then been a little hazy about how the hell they were going to get away with it. | If one puts aside the fact that the raid left the 39 victims who lost their property devastated, it was a great idea worthy of a new British crime film. But, like the cocky cast of The Italian Job, the thieves had carefully planned how to lay their hands on the loot but then been a little hazy about how the hell they were going to get away with it. |
| It is a recurring theme in landmark British crimes. The gang responsible for the 1963 Great Train Robbery, dubbed the “crime of the century” (£2.5m stolen, worth around £40m today), put a great deal of time, thought and imagination into working out how to stop the overnight Glasgow-to-London mail train, and where to do it. | It is a recurring theme in landmark British crimes. The gang responsible for the 1963 Great Train Robbery, dubbed the “crime of the century” (£2.5m stolen, worth around £40m today), put a great deal of time, thought and imagination into working out how to stop the overnight Glasgow-to-London mail train, and where to do it. |
| Given the appalling success rate of the big-time robbers, why would this gang think they could get away with it? | Given the appalling success rate of the big-time robbers, why would this gang think they could get away with it? |
| But after the raid, once each man had his share of the proceeds, their hasty exit from a local farmhouse left behind a wealth of fingerprints, vehicles, empty mailbags and paraphernalia connecting most of them to the robbery. None of the gang had planned how to launder the stolen money, or what to do with it. Only one of the main players, Gordon Goody, had thought to prepare an alibi in case the police questioned him. | But after the raid, once each man had his share of the proceeds, their hasty exit from a local farmhouse left behind a wealth of fingerprints, vehicles, empty mailbags and paraphernalia connecting most of them to the robbery. None of the gang had planned how to launder the stolen money, or what to do with it. Only one of the main players, Gordon Goody, had thought to prepare an alibi in case the police questioned him. |
| Oversights in how to get away with it were repeated in subsequent major heists: in 1983, £6m in cash was stolen from Security Express and £26m in gold bullion and diamonds – which the gang had not even planned to steal – from Brink’s-Mat; in 1987, £60m worth of valuables was pilfered in the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre raid; and in 2006 a colossal £53m – the largest amount of cash ever stolen in a robbery – was taken in the Kent Securitas depot raid. Robbers in all these cases were convicted. So the Hatton Garden raid forms the latest chapter in a familiar story. | Oversights in how to get away with it were repeated in subsequent major heists: in 1983, £6m in cash was stolen from Security Express and £26m in gold bullion and diamonds – which the gang had not even planned to steal – from Brink’s-Mat; in 1987, £60m worth of valuables was pilfered in the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre raid; and in 2006 a colossal £53m – the largest amount of cash ever stolen in a robbery – was taken in the Kent Securitas depot raid. Robbers in all these cases were convicted. So the Hatton Garden raid forms the latest chapter in a familiar story. |
| However, today it is cybercrime that yields massive hauls. It is carried out by tech-savvy geeks, with no need to load up a van with heavy equipment or employ burly men wearing stocking masks. So the Hatton Garden break-in could be the end of this particular criminal era, and it’s therefore little surprise that the robbers all turned out to be men of advanced years, three of the main players being pensioners. Most indeed were old enough to have driven a 3.8 Jaguar Mk2, the quintessential getaway car favoured by criminals in the 1960s. | However, today it is cybercrime that yields massive hauls. It is carried out by tech-savvy geeks, with no need to load up a van with heavy equipment or employ burly men wearing stocking masks. So the Hatton Garden break-in could be the end of this particular criminal era, and it’s therefore little surprise that the robbers all turned out to be men of advanced years, three of the main players being pensioners. Most indeed were old enough to have driven a 3.8 Jaguar Mk2, the quintessential getaway car favoured by criminals in the 1960s. |
| But, given the appalling success rate of the big-time robbers, why would this gang think they could get away with it? That could be partly because criminals like these tend to be fantasists: people who believe a cash windfall will solve all their problems and open up a life of luxury. They give little thought to living in constant fear of being captured, and hence having to be careful how they spend their ill-gotten gains. | But, given the appalling success rate of the big-time robbers, why would this gang think they could get away with it? That could be partly because criminals like these tend to be fantasists: people who believe a cash windfall will solve all their problems and open up a life of luxury. They give little thought to living in constant fear of being captured, and hence having to be careful how they spend their ill-gotten gains. |
| However, in their formative years this gang would no doubt have heard of, and perhaps been inspired by, the 1951 Eastcastle Street robbery. This was the first of a new type of postwar crime, meticulously planned and executed with ruthless precision and speed. | However, in their formative years this gang would no doubt have heard of, and perhaps been inspired by, the 1951 Eastcastle Street robbery. This was the first of a new type of postwar crime, meticulously planned and executed with ruthless precision and speed. |
| The raiders held up a Post Office van just off Oxford Street, in central London, stealing mailbags containing £287,000 (over £7m in today’s money). The prime minister, Winston Churchill, called for daily updates on the investigation and the postmaster general, Earl de la Warr, was asked to report to parliament on what had gone wrong. The gang included the arch-villain Billy Hill, assisted by Terry Hogan and George “Taters” Chatham. However, despite the best efforts of more than 1,000 police officers at the height of the investigation, none of the thieves was ever identified or prosecuted. | The raiders held up a Post Office van just off Oxford Street, in central London, stealing mailbags containing £287,000 (over £7m in today’s money). The prime minister, Winston Churchill, called for daily updates on the investigation and the postmaster general, Earl de la Warr, was asked to report to parliament on what had gone wrong. The gang included the arch-villain Billy Hill, assisted by Terry Hogan and George “Taters” Chatham. However, despite the best efforts of more than 1,000 police officers at the height of the investigation, none of the thieves was ever identified or prosecuted. |
| The Hatton Garden gang were experienced villains who knew the score, old enough to remember the downfall of others of their generation and to learn from past mistakes. They were also old enough to know better. But thanks to their collective amnesia only one of the gang, nicknamed Basil, has yet to be identified. Despite their ingenuity and creativity in carrying out the raid, it seems the one lesson the robbers never learned was one of the oldest: that crime doesn’t pay. | The Hatton Garden gang were experienced villains who knew the score, old enough to remember the downfall of others of their generation and to learn from past mistakes. They were also old enough to know better. But thanks to their collective amnesia only one of the gang, nicknamed Basil, has yet to be identified. Despite their ingenuity and creativity in carrying out the raid, it seems the one lesson the robbers never learned was one of the oldest: that crime doesn’t pay. |