Two burglars involved in the £14m Hatton Garden jewellery raid walked off the job on the eve of the biggest ever break-in in English legal history, a court has heard.
Carl Wood, 58, is seen on security camera footage leaving “stage left” after losing his nerve following a first failed attempt to break into the basement vault, the court heard.
“The man the Crown says is Mr Wood is not seen again during the course of these events on the CCTV and it appears for whatever reason he decided at that point that he wanted out and he left the scene,” said prosecutor Philip Evans.
The court heard that another member of the gang who had been at the scene on April 2 at the start of the burglary had also not turned up on the second occasion, the court heard. It appears that Brian Reader, 76, - a ringleader known as the Master – “had decided he no longer wanted any part in the activities at Hatton Garden,” said Mr Evans.
There were never any more calls between Mr Wood and the burglars after he walked out on the evening of April 4, said Mr Evans.
By the following morning, members of the gang had broken into the vault where local jewellers kept their stock for safe-keeping and escaped with a substantial amount of gold, jewellery, precious stones and other items, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
They had jemmied open 73 of the 999 safety deposit boxes held at the centre, the court heard. Police have recovered only a third of the items.
The court heard that the gang first broke into 88-90 Hatton Garden on April 2 but because of a problem with their equipment they were not able to get into the vault, the court heard. Two of the ringleaders went shopping in Twickenham, southwest London, on April 4, to buy a new piece of kit to move cabinets holding safety deposit boxes that were bolted to the floor. The prosecution say an original pump may have broken in the original attempt.
Members of the gang returned that night to Hatton Garden, but the prosecution heard that Mr Wood walked off after discovering a fire door that had been left open had been locked again.
A police probe hidden in a car of one of the plotters caught discussions more than a month later about the departure of Mr Wood from the gang, the court heard. A ringleader, Terry Perkins, 67, said: “He thought we would never get in, cause even the c*** I said give it another half hour. We’ve done everything we can do, if we can’t get in, we won’t be able to get in will we?”
John Collins, 74, of Islington, north London; Daniel Jones, 60, of Enfield, north London; Terry Perkins, 67, of Enfield; and Reader, 76, of Dartford, southeast London, have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary. They will be sentenced at a later date.
Mr Wood, 58, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire; William Lincoln, 60, of Bethnal Green, east London; and Jon Harbinson, 42, of Benfleet, Essex all deny conspiracy to commit burglary. A fourth man, Hugh Doyle, 48, of, Enfield, north London, denies conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property.
The case continues
