Walking through Hatton Garden, London's historic diamond district, visitors might admire the tranquil winding alleys and assume this is a perfectly safe enclave for jewellery shopping. However, beneath this calm surface lies a much darker reality that has persisted for generations.
The Adams Family's Reign Over Hatton Garden
According to multiple industry sources who have worked in the diamond district for decades, Hatton Garden has allegedly been under the control of the notorious British crime family known as the Adams Family, or the Clerkenwell Crime Syndicate, for approximately 45 years. This criminal enterprise, led by Terry Adams - nicknamed the British Godfather - has reportedly extorted traders, facilitated drug trafficking, and been rumoured to have involvement in gangland killings.
Despite the three most powerful brothers - Terry, Tommy, and Patrick (Patsy) Adams - now being in their late 60s and early 70s, their name alone continues to send shivers through the spines of market sellers. One source with extensive experience in the district told the Daily Mail: 'Even now traders are terrified of crossing the family, their grip is still very much on the area. It would be stupid for petty criminals to try and cross them.'
A Criminal Dynasty's Evolution
The Adams brothers were born into a working-class Irish Catholic family in Islington and began their criminal careers extorting traders before evolving into conducting armed robberies. As police became more successful at tracking thieves, the brothers pivoted into drug trafficking by the mid-eighties, eventually controlling much of London's cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy trade at their peak.
Gaining notoriety under various nicknames including the A-Team, the family allegedly laundered money through Hatton Garden using a diamond merchant, Smithfield, and a West End nightclub. Their operation became so sophisticated that it's believed they had detectives, lawyers, and prosecutors on their payroll during the nineties, with cases against them constantly falling through.
The Family's Criminal Legacy and Downfall
Patsy Adams, known as the muscle of the operation, was allegedly the first to use hit-men on motorbikes for assassinations. He was jailed for nine years in 2016 for shooting someone he suspected of being an informant. Tommy Adams received a seven-year sentence in 2017 after police bugged a cafe where he was discussing his crimes, while undercover officers witnessed couriers exchanging thousands of pounds at Euston station.
Terry Adams faced his own downfall, jailed for seven years in 2007 for money-laundering after MI5 bugged his home. He was ordered to pay £750,000 in a confiscation order to avoid further prison time, with a 2014 High Court judge refusing his application for a reduction certificate. Three years later, he was ordered to repay over £700,000 of criminal earnings to avoid additional imprisonment.
The 2015 Hatton Garden Heist Connection
One of the most famous criminal endeavours associated with the Adams family was the spectacular 2015 Hatton Garden heist, where burglars worked through the four-day Easter and Passover Bank Holiday weekend. They entered through a lift shaft and drilled through 50cm thick vault walls using a Hilti power drill.
Sources previously suggested to the Daily Mail that Adams could have been the mastermind behind the entire operation. One insider commented: 'This street is full of useful tips and information. It is quite possible they (the Adams firm) are the source of the robbery. A burglary of this size cannot happen just like that - out of thin air. And these people are so powerful here that they can do anything.'
There was frenzied speculation that somewhere in the vault was a piece of evidence that could have seen Adams imprisoned for life. A Scotland Yard source revealed: 'This was never about stealing all that gold and jewellery. It was a job arranged by a Mr Big who only appears to have been interested in one particular box, the number of which he knew.'
Changing Criminal Landscape in London
Despite their historical influence, some believe the Adams family's power has waned significantly. A retired London bouncer told the Mail: 'The Adams were active in the 80s and 90s. The Adams started to run out of money, and that meant they could not hire dangerous criminals who needed paying. They have been on slide since the early noughties and I have not heard the name in years. The white guys have had their day - the London they were part of vanished decades ago.'
Today, London faces a new wave of jewellery heists with different criminal groups allegedly responsible. One source with past dealings with the Adams family noted: 'From what I hear the jewellery heists are carried out by foreign gangs. They come over, do the jobs and get off. The watches and other items are all bound for Dubai, where there is a lucrative black market. My suspicion is the Albanian and Romanian firms are all over this kind of work in London.'
Contemporary Crime Wave
Recent months have seen hammer-wielding thugs break into a family-run jewellers in plush Richmond, while a moped gang conducted an audacious 'high value heist' on a jewellery shop that had been targeted in a similar raid just over six years earlier. Days prior, another gang smashed their way into the sought-after designer store Yves Saint Laurent in central London, fleeing with luxury handbags worth up to £30,000.
Yet paradoxically, some sources suggest the Adams family's historical control might have provided a form of protection for Hatton Garden traders. One industry veteran explained that despite claims the family has less control, these gangsters might be the reason local shops have avoided becoming targets of theft, creating an uneasy equilibrium in London's diamond district that continues to fascinate and disturb in equal measure.
