Hatton Garden raider Daniel Jones has been seen enjoying a stroll near his home in Enfield, north London, after completing his sentences for the 2015 heist. The 66-year-old veteran robber was released from HMP Hollesley Bay in Suffolk this week, having served time for the burglary and related offences.
Jones was originally sentenced to seven years for the Hatton Garden burglary, plus an additional three years in 2018 for a separate heist on a Mayfair jewellers. He later received a further six years and 287 days after failing to repay millions from the Hatton Garden theft. By March 2020, he had repaid £548,218.47 of his share, but police say two-thirds of the total £14 million haul remains unrecovered.
The burglary, which took place over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend in 2015, involved drilling through a 50cm thick vault wall at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company in London's diamond district. It is considered the largest burglary in British legal history, with an estimated £13.7 million worth of jewellery, gems and cash stolen, though the true value may be double that.
Jones, who has previous convictions for burglary, theft and robbery, was reportedly institutionalised from spending most of his adult life in prison. He would sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor and refused visitors after 5pm. Only two members of the gang, Michael 'Basil the Ghost' Seed and John 'Kenny' Collins, remain in jail.
The heist has been the subject of three feature films, including 2018's 'King of Thieves'. Mastermind Brian Reader, 81, was spared a return to jail last year due to ill health, despite only repaying six per cent of his £6.6 million share. The gang collectively owe £5.75 million in hidden assets, including unrecovered jewellery and property.
