A Dartford man, involved in the Hatton Garden heist, was the brains behind “the largest burglary in British history,” a court heard.
Brian Reader, 76, of Dartford Road, was dubbed the ‘guvnor’ during the multi-million pound raid over Easter weekend, Woolwich Crown Court heard yesterday (November 24).
Reader, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary in September, was also referred to as the ‘master’ of the heist, jurors heard during the trial of four other men, who deny their involvement.
Brian Reader
A haul worth £14 million of jewels, gold and cash was stolen during the burglary.
Only around a third of the haul has been recovered after the gang ransacked 73 safety deposit boxes, of which 29 were empty.
The court heard how Reader - recognisable by his striped socks and brown shoes – along with, allegedly, five other men - entered the safe deposit at around 9.20pm on April 2.
Although present on the first night of the burglary, Reader did not return for the second (April 3).
A hole drilled into the wall of the vault by thieves
Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the men arriving in a white van and unloading tools, bags, metal joists and wheelie bins.
To break into the vault, the gang allegedly posed as gas repairmen and entered through its fire escape.
The men used walkie-talkies to communicate and their mobile phones were in "radio silence".
Once inside, they used the lift shaft to access the basement, disabled the alarm and drilled into the vault wall using a drill they had taken with them.
It took them three years to plan the heist and the ringleaders watched YouTube videos of how to use powerful concrete piercing drills, the court heard.
The ransacked safe deposit box
Alongside Reader, the prosecution suggested that the other ringleaders were John Collins, 74, of Islington, Daniel Jones, 58, of Enfield, and Terry Perkins, 67, also of Enfield.
All four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle with intent to steal jewellery.
The gang were men with extensive criminal pasts and vast experience, Prosecutor Philip Evans told the court.
He said: “These four ringleaders and organisers of this conspiracy, although senior in years, brought with them a great deal of experience in planning and executing sophisticated and serious acquisitive crime not dissimilar to this.
“This offence was to be the largest burglary in English legal history.
“Two of these men had also been involved in some of the biggest acquisitive crime of the last century, and the other two had for many years in their earlier lives been involved in serious theft.”
A younger Brian Reader
The court also heard that searches of Reader’s home revealed a book on the diamond underworld, a diamond tester, a diamond gauge, diamond magazines, and a distinctive scarf seen on CCTV at Hatton Garden on the night of April 2.
Reader’s son Paul, 50, also of Dartford Road, had a charge of conspiracy to commit burglary, in relation to the heist, dropped against him earlier this month.
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William Lincoln, 60, of Winkley Street, Bethnal Green, Carl Wood, 58, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, and John Harbinson, 42, of Beresford Gardens, Benfleet, Essex all stand trial charged with conspiracy to burgle.
They all deny the charges.
The group, along with Hugh Doyle, 48, of Riverside Gardens, Enfield, also deny conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property.
The trial continues.
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