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Hatton Garden safe deposit raid: police arrest nine suspects Hatton Garden safe deposit raid: police arrest nine suspects
(about 1 hour later)
Detectives have arrested nine people in connection with the audacious theft of a safety deposit box vault in London’s Hatton Garden jewellery district. Highly valuable property stolen during the Hatton Garden heist has been found stashed in bags during coordinated police raids by more than 200 officers which have led to the arrest of nine suspects.
The arrests came after 200 officers raided 12 addresses across London and Kent on Tuesday. Three pensioners, the oldest aged 76, were among those detained during the raids in London and Kent after Scotland Yard detectives used covert tactics to identify suspects.
Police said the men arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle were aged between 48 and 76 and that they had recovered a large amount of “high-value” property from properties raided. The arrests came after police using covert tactics to identify possible suspects. The burglary over the Easter weekend is believed to have seen millions of pounds worth of jewels, cash and other valuables stolen by a gang who bored through a thick concrete wall to break into a vault containing safety deposit boxes, in the heart of London’s diamond district.
They said they were confident some of the property recovered in the raids, which took place at about 10.30am, came from Hatton Garden.
One of the addresses being searched was an £800,000 property in Dartford, Kent. According to a planning application and the electoral roll, Paul Reader was registered as living at the address.One of the addresses being searched was an £800,000 property in Dartford, Kent. According to a planning application and the electoral roll, Paul Reader was registered as living at the address.
A resident from a nearby roadsaid Reader was a widower who used to sell cars from his drive. Police said all those arrested were white British males, putting paid to early speculation that an east European gang may have been behind the robbery.
The heist happened over the Easter weekend. The gang drilled through a thick concrete wall then rifled through 72 secure boxes believed to contain millions of pounds’ worth of cash, jewels and other valuables. The first set of arrests were made at 10.30am on Tuesday, with a total of 12 addresses raided.
Tuesday morning’s raids were staged by Scotland Yard’s flying squad – its elite branch devoted to high-value robberies and other armed crime. Two arrests were made at the same property in Dartford, of males aged 50 and 76. Another four men – aged 48, 58, 67 and 74 – were arrested in Enfield, north London, while a seventh man, aged 59, was arrested in east London.
Four people - aged 67, 74, 58, and 48 - were arrested in Enfield. A 59-year-old man was detained in east London, while a man aged 76 was held in Dartford, with a 50-year-old. The eighth and ninth arrests were made in north London. Two further arrests were made later in north London, of men aged 43 and 58. All nine were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle.
Police said: “A number of large bags containing significant amounts of high-value property have been recovered from one address. Officers are confident these are items stolen during the burglary.” In a sign of the confidence of detectives, Scotland Yard said high-value property found at one address matched that stolen from Hatton Garden.
All those arrested were taken to a London police station as searches at the addresses continued. “A number of large bags containing significant amounts of high-value property have been recovered from one address. Officers are confident these are items stolen during the burglary,” the Metropolitan police said.
In announcing the arrests, police apologised for failing to attend the Hatton Garden premises despite an alarm having been triggered while the gang were drilling into the vault. The blunder led to criticism that has clearly stung the top echelons of the Metropolitan police. During the heist the gang rifled through 72 secure boxes believed to contain millions of pounds’ worth of cash, jewels and other valuables.
Commander Peter Spindler said: “At times we’ve been portrayed as if we have acted like Keystone Cops but I want to reassure you that, in the finest traditions of Scotland Yard, these detectives have done their utmost to bring justice to the victims of this callous crime. Police have denied being “keystone cops” after they failed to respond to an alarm from the building housing the vault which went off while the gang were trying to break into the strong room.
“They’ve worked tirelessly and relentlessly. They’ve put their lives on hold over the last six or seven weeks to make sure that justice is served. They’ve exemplified the finest attributes of Scotland Yard detectives.” Some inside the police questioned whether detectives would be able to gain much intelligence to arrest suspects, given the decline over the past decades in such “old school” crimes and cuts to flying squad staff numbers.
Addressing criticism of why officers did not respond to the alarm, Spindler said the Met’s call-handling procedures were not followed and that lessons needed to be learned. “Our normal procedures would have resulted in police attending the scene and we apologise that this did not happen,” he said.
“In this case, the owners had been notified by the alarm company and a security guard attended the building but saw nothing more than our officers would have done had they been deployed. We are working closely with the alarm industry to improve the call handling and response processes at both ends to ensure nothing like this happens again.
“A more detailed investigation into the defeat of the alarm system at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd is ongoing and we will share the lessons learned with the business community in due course.”
Some inside the police questioned whether detectives would be able to gain much intelligence to arrest suspects, given the decline over the past decades in such “old school” crime and cuts to the flying squad.
However, Scotland Yard will be buoyed by the squad’s role in the arrests and the apparent recovery of stolen property.However, Scotland Yard will be buoyed by the squad’s role in the arrests and the apparent recovery of stolen property.
The gang left behind tools, including drills, crowbars and angle-grinders used to force the boxes open. Officers have been trying to find out why only 72 of 999 boxes were opened.The gang left behind tools, including drills, crowbars and angle-grinders used to force the boxes open. Officers have been trying to find out why only 72 of 999 boxes were opened.
In announcing the arrests, police apologised for failing to respond to the alarm.
Cdr Peter Spindler said: “At times we have been portrayed as if we’ve acted like ‘Keystone Cops’. But 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.
“They have worked tirelessly and relentlessly. They have put their lives on hold over the last six or seven weeks to make sure that justice is served and they have exemplified the finest attributes of Scotland Yard detectives.”
Spindler said the Met’s call-handling procedures were not followed when the alarm went off.
“Our normal procedures would have resulted in police attending the scene and we apologise that this did not happen. In this case, the owners had been notified by the alarm company and a security guard attended the building but saw nothing more than our officers would have done had they been deployed.”
Det Supt Craig Turner, head of the flying squad, asked for patience from victims of the heist eager to get their property back.
“Police officers will be in contact with them in order that we can restore this property back to their rightful owners. Please be patient in relation to this,” he said.
Forensic experts were given priority at the crime scene, which was left strewn with dust, rubble, and equipment used by the gang. Material they were able to recover, such as DNA and fingerprints, may be crucial to enabling prosecutions.