Hatton Garden jewellery raid: two more people charged

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/05/hatton-garden-jewellery-raid-two-more-charged

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Two more people have been charged over the Hatton Garden jewellery raid, in which valuables worth more than £10m were stolen from a safety deposit box vault in London over the Easter weekend.

A man and woman will appear in court on 27 August, Scotland Yard said on Wednesday evening.

Brenn Walters, also known as Ben Perkins, 43, and Terri Robinson, 35, both from Enfield, north London, have been bailed to appear at Westminster magistrates court, charged under Section 327 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Nine men are already due to stand trial accused of plotting the raid. It is alleged they conspired together to enter Hatton Garden Safe Deposit in London’s jewellery quarter, with the intent to steal.

Terry Perkins, 67, Daniel Jones, 58, and Hugh Doyle, 48, all of Enfield, William Lincoln, 59, of Bethnal Green, east London, and John Collins, 74, of Islington, north London, are all charged with conspiracy to burgle between 1 and 7 April this year.

Brian Reader, 76, and Paul Reader, 50, both of Dartford, Kent, Carl Wood, 58, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, and taxi driver John Harbinson, 42, from Benfleet in Essex, also face the same charge.

The men are also accused of conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer a quantity of jewellery and other items between 1 April and 19 May.

The nine men are due formally to enter pleas at Woolwich crown court on 4 September, with a provisional trial date set for 16 November.

In the raid, thieves broke into the vault at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit, using a drill to bore a hole 50cm deep, 25cm high and 45cm wide into the vault wall.

Officers believe the thieves got into the building, which houses a number of businesses, through a communal entrance before disabling the lift so they could climb down the shaft to the basement. Once inside, the thieves ransacked 73 safety deposit boxes, taking items worth millions of pounds.

After facing criticism for the way it handled the incident, the Metropolitan police apologised for not following procedures when receiving a call from a security firm about an intruder alert at the premises at midnight on Good Friday. But Flying Squad detectives rejected the suggestion that they were bungling “Keystone Cops”.