Brian Reader
Brian Reader
“Career criminal” Brian Reader was known as “Guv’nor” and was a crime partner of notorious gangland character Kenneth Noye – despite the two men being like “chalk and cheese”.
Reader was the oldest of the gang and even traveled to the scene of the robbery on a bus using a pensioner’s “Freedom Pass.”
One police officer even described him as “the last of the gentlemen thieves.”
Reader was released from prison in 2018 and avoided repaying his share of £6.6 million after a judge ruled he was too ill.
He avoided prison due to his “mental and physical” health.
Terry Perkins
Terry Perkins
Terry Perkins was one of those involved from start to finish and entered the vault premises on both nights of the heist.
He did not go through the holes in the safe and would have remained outside to have the stolen goods returned to him.
He was later recorded by police saying he would have liked to take a photo during the raid.
Police described him as a career criminal and he was also involved in the famous Security Express heist in east London in 1985.
Perkins died in prison on February 5, 2018 at the age of 69 while watching rugby on television.
He was due to stand trial for the Shatila robbery while serving a seven-year sentence for the Hatton Garden raid.
Daniel Jones
Danny Jones
Daniel Jones was described as an “eccentric Walter Mitty” character during the trial when one of the defendants spoke about his strange habits.
He is one of two men who managed to slip through the small hole the gang cut in the safe and go through the safes before distributing the loot.
He was filmed on CCTV wearing an eccentric outfit during the raid, including striped trousers, a hi-vis vest, red trainers and a navy baseball cap.
Police found a box of dust masks, the book “Forensic Medicine for Dummies,” a drill, balaclavas and a walkie-talkie at his home.
Jones has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 1975, with convictions for grand theft, receiving stolen property and burglary.
He was initially jailed for seven years in March 2016 after admitting conspiracy to commit burglary, but a further six years and 287 days were later added to that sentence after failing to repay £6,599,021.
John “Kenny” Collins
John “Kenny” Collins
John ‘Kenny’ Collins was part of the Islington group and has a long string of convictions for crimes including theft, handling stolen goods and fraud dating back to 1961.
He was the driver of the gang who waited in vehicles outside the security depot company on both nights of the Hatton Garden raid and acted as lookout. It was his connection with the white Mercedes that was the first step in the police’s hunt for the looters.
He also drove the white Ford Transit van which was used in the robbery.
The court heard he was called a “big wombat” by his accomplices and prosecutors said he “lost the plot” in the weeks after the raid.
During the raid, he was captured on CCTV wearing a smart green padded cap and carrying a briefcase while manning a lookout post in the building opposite.
He was released from prison in 2019 after serving half of his seven-year sentence.
However, after failing to repay the millions of pounds he stole, he was jailed for a further 2,309 days.
William “Billy” Lincoln
William “Billy the Fish” Lincoln
William “Billy” Lincoln was recruited by ringleader John “Kenny” Collins as a trusted family member to control much of the loot after the heist.
Lincoln’s aunt, Milly Garrett, lived with Collins as his common-law wife in Islington.
He has a string of convictions for attempted burglary, burglary and attempted theft between 1975 and 1985, but his most recent conviction was for assault and battery in 2013.
The married father-of-two was a well-known figure at the famous Billingsgate fish market, where he bought haddock, herring, eels and salmon to sell to friends and family members.
Lincoln was instrumental in organizing the loot bag swap and was arrested after police framed his black Audi A3 before smashing the window and dragging him from the car.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Carl Wood
Carl Wood
Carl Wood was a trusted associate of the ringleaders, recruited as an “extra pair of hands” to pull off the heist.
Wood grew up in Hackney and has two adult daughters who have children of their own.
He was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in his early 20s, an inflammatory bowel disease that he said often left him bedridden and in agony.
In police microphone-recorded conversations, Terry Perkins suggests that Wood was vouching for his old friend Billy Hickson, who was tried alongside Perkins for the £6 million Security Express heist.
Wood was around £20,000 in debt, but in January 2015 he attended the Adventure Travel Show, at the Kensington Olympia, showcasing “unique travel experiences” in apparent anticipation of his future wealth.
He did not attend planning meetings, but was regularly briefed by his friend of 30 years, Daniel Jones.
The couple met regularly for walks followed by sandwiches and coffee at their local garden center.
Dressed in dark clothing, a high-visibility vest and a navy blue baseball cap and wearing a white surgeon-style mask, dark gloves and glasses, Wood was one of the men who entered the 88- 90 Hatton Garden on the first night of the raid.
He was sentenced to six years in prison for this crime.
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