London burglars pull off Hatton Garden-style raid at upmarket jewellers during Half Marathon

London burglars pull off Hatton Garden-style raid at upmarket jewellers during Half Marathon - Daily Mail

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 12:00 AM PDT

The Fleet Street jewellery thieves broke in through a fire door before drilling through the wrong wall at the start of their £500,000 heist, it emerged today.

The gang drilled through a back wall to get into the upmarket George Attenborough and Son Jewellers in central London over the weekend, using the crowds cheering on the London Landmarks Half Marathon as cover.

It was revealed today that the gang first broke in through a fire door to get into the building, but then, apparently disorientated by sweep of stairs, drilled into the basement of a next-door William Hill bookmaker.

Realising their mistake, they then bored through another, higher wall, this time gaining entrance to the jewellery store and helping themselves to half a million pounds worth of gold and gems.

Photos from the scene show the boarded up hole at the bottom of the winding staircase, where the thieves struck first. Another hole, boarded with two pieces of wood, shows where they eventually got into the jewellers.

It was revealed today that the Fleet Street jewellery gang first broke in through a fire door to get into the building, but then, apparently disorientated by sweep of stairs, drilled into the basement of a next-door William Hill bookmaker. They then tunnelled through to a jewellers to steal £500,000 in gems after using noise from a half marathon to cover their 'audacious' raid

The wall of a stairwell between William Hill bookermakers and the jewellers shows the spot where the gang drilled into the jewellery store

The thieves first bored through this wall at the bottom of the stairs, but found themselves in the basement of the bookies

Photos from the scene show the gang appear to have painted over CCTV cameras

The thieves are thought to have drilled in the back of the jewellers from a passageway between their red-brick building (centre) and the lighter-brick building (centre right) which houses a bookmakers. The raid unfolded just yards from the Royal Courts of Justice

Supporters cheering on the 13,000 runners, who included TV star Amanda Holden and singer Cheryl Baker, could have masked the drilling sounds and the crowds will make it more difficult for police looking at CCTV.

It is unclear exactly what items were stolen, although the firm advertises a range of high-end jewellery online, including Cartier diamond rings, with some pieces worth £80,000 each.

The street was once the home of most of Britain's national newspapers and is famous as the site where fictional Victorian barber Sweeney Todd murdered his victims.

The investigation is now being handled by the Met Police's Flying Squad, which is appropriately nicknamed the Sweeney, after the old rhyming slang 'Flying Squad/Sweeney Todd'.

A source said: 'It's a fire escape so you can't lock that a sensible way. In the past rough sleepers have got in by putting their hand through and lifting the bar to open.

'It is very possible they could have reached in through the letter box to get into the building.

'The alarm is not on the fire exit door which is why they didn't trigger the alarm.

'But they may have drilled into the betting shop first by mistake thinking it was the jewellers.'

It is understood the thieves got in through this fire door which opens on to Chancery Lane

A source said the door is quite easy to open and leads to a stairwell from where they drilled

Workers from other shops in the street said today that they were not surprised by the raid and it was not the first time the building has been robbed.

The concierge of a nearby building said: 'Last time they were burgled, the thieves used motorbikes to get away, it happens a lot.

'When I arrived at work the next morning, there were police all along the street and officers by the William Hill.'

A worker from a neighbouring business told The Sun he found a piece of paper lodged in his door, which he believes may have been the gang's way of checking nobody was coming and going over the weekend.

A woman working at Prestige Drycleaners opposite said: 'It's shocking, I cant believe they went to that effort to get in and they got away. I didn't see or hear anything about it until now.'

Thieves stole thousands of pounds worth of gems from George Attenborough and Son jewellers on Fleet Street in central London over the weekend. The store was closed today

The gang used the noise and crowds of a half-marathon to disguise the raid. Pictured: Singer and TV personality Cheryl Baker taking part in the run

Amanda Holden was also among the celebrities taking part in the run this weekend

A Big Issue vendor, who has had his pitch on Fleet Street for seven years, saw police investigating the Fleet Street break in on Monday.

The 62-year-old man, from Ilford in east London, said: 'I was told that the burglars triggered the alarm about 1am after the break in but I don't know if that's true.'

The similarities to the Hatton Garden raid

The raid took place just yards from a busy central London street.
The thieves drilled into the business when it was closed and potentially spent a long time inside the premises.
They went in over a weekend to give them the chance to come back if needed.
The Hatton Garden gang used the cover of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, while the Fleet Street gang used the cover of a half-marathon.
The gang appear to have worked undisturbed and were not seen leaving, meaning detectives will have to start their investigation from scratch.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Police were called shortly before 2am on Monday, March 25, to a report of a burglary at a jewellers in Fleet Street.

'A quantity of jewellery was stolen. An investigation has been launched, led by detectives from the Met's Flying Squad. Forensic examination work is continuing at the scene.'

The Met spokesman continued: 'No arrests have been made. Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances and identify those responsible.

'We are not providing further information at present, and we are not disclosing details of what was stolen.'

George Attenborough and Son Jewellers was founded in 1843. It refers to itself as 'one of the United Kingdom's most iconic, traditional jewellers' and 'one of the final vestiges of Victorian England'.

The shop contains a custom built Honduran mahogany and bronze interior. It's windows are protected by strong shutters when closed, although these would have hidden the burglars, who came in from the back.

The incident happened a short distance from the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company, which was raided in April 2015.

Of the £13.6million of property stolen in the heist, only around £4.5million - roughly one-third - has since been recovered by police.

Earlier this month, alarm specialist Michael Seed - known by the moniker Basil - became the 10th person convicted in connection with the crime.

He was found guilty of conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to handle the proceeds after £143,000 worth of gold ingots, gems and jewellery was found in his bedroom.

Thieves broke into the upmarket George Attenborough and Son Jewellers on Fleet Street in central London (pictured)

Police would not confirm the value of the goods stolen, but said an investigation has been launched by the Met's Flying Squad

Sweeney Todd: The Demon barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd's name comes from Victorian 'penny dreadful' newspapers who first appeared in the 1846 story The String of Pearls: A Romance.

He was famous for killing his customers and using his catchphrase, 'See how I polish 'em off!'.

In modern times, the Demon Barber's tale has been adapted first as a Stephen Sondheim musical and then a Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp (pictured) and Helena Bonham Carter.

Scholars have argued over whether a Sweeney Todd really did exist, or if he was based on a particular person.

In 2008, writer Peter Haining claimed a killer of that name did exist in the second half of the 18 century, taking to murder after working as an assistant of barber in prison and emerging 'with a grudge'.

Mr Haining estimated the location of jos shop as 186 Fleet Street, just 200 yards from this weekend's raid.

Katya Hill, a jewellery expert from The Art Loss Register, a database of stolen valuables, said it is likely the burglars will sell the gemstones separately to traders across the world.

She said: 'Burglars plan these types of attacks for financial gain. They usually sell them off separately to make it harder for them to be identified, often taking them abroad where they are less likely to be recognised.

'If they are broken up then they lose some of their intrinsic value as antique items, although there would still be a net benefit to the criminals. Some gemstones are also re-cut to create a new stone with different characteristics.

'Many jewellery items are already difficult and often impossible to uniquely identify if they are generic.

'In most cases only jewellery pieces with serial numbers, unique engravings or bespoke, antique or vintage pieces can be identified.'

Ms Hill added the precious gemstones worth thousands of pounds each will either be sold to overseas traders or scrapping companies.

She said: 'Whole pieces may be sold to buyers such as preowned jewellers or pawnbrokers.

'Or they can be broken up and sold to companies that reclaim or refine metals and scrap jewellery.

'Realistically they could be sold to anyone in the trade but dealers and pawnbrokers who conduct thorough checks on the provenance of the items and the seller will be more likely to avoid buying stolen goods.'