How a Dog Prevented Hatton Garden Heist Gang's Escape with Millions
A new Channel 4 documentary has lifted the lid on the astonishing role a dog played in stopping one of the Hatton Garden heist gang from escaping abroad with millions of pounds in stolen loot. The revelation comes as part of an exclusive look at one of Britain's most infamous burglaries, which captured national attention in 2015.
The Diamond Wheezers' Audacious Crime
The Hatton Garden burglary saw an elderly team of thieves, nicknamed the 'Diamond Wheezers', empty dozens of safety deposit boxes of money, jewels, and gold. Despite the passage of 11 years, mystery still shrouds the exact value taken, with estimates ranging wildly from 10 to 300 million pounds. Surviving gang member John 'Kenny' Collins, now in his 80s, dismisses these figures with a cheeky grin, insisting nothing remains undiscovered.
"All the stories about 200 million, 300 million, 30 million, 10 million, that was all b*****ks," says Collins, sipping a pint in the documentary. "There's nothing missing. Nothing missing. They got it all back…as far as I know."
A Life of Crime and the 'One Last Job'
Collins, who describes his career as "dishonest", had been thieving since childhood, influenced by post-war conditions. He joined the Hatton Garden raid out of loyalty to his friend Brian Reader, the criminal mastermind behind the plan. The gang, including Daniel Jones, Terry Perkins, and Michael 'Basil' Seed, broke into the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit vault over Easter 2015, drilling through half-a-metre thick concrete but facing setbacks with bolted shelving.
The heist was executed over two nights, with sloppy mistakes like using personal vehicles and leaving evidence behind. Collins, serving as lookout, lamented that only 60-70 boxes were opened out of 900, suggesting more loot could have been taken.
The Investigation and Critical Surveillance
After security guard Keefa Kamara discovered the damage, police struggled for leads until CCTV revealed a distinctive white Mercedes with a black roof linked to Collins. Former Flying Squad Head Barry Phillips noted this as a "schoolboy error" that gave investigators a lifeline. Collins was placed under heavy surveillance, with 12 officers tracking his movements daily.
David Matthews, a former Met Police surveillance officer, recalled: "The only passenger he had in that car was his Staffordshire bull terrier that sat in the front passenger seat at all times." This detail proved crucial, as Collins later admitted the dog prevented his escape.
The Dog That Changed Everything
Collins' beloved Staffordshire bull terrier, Dempsey—named after boxing champion Jack Dempsey—became the unexpected obstacle to his plans. "If I hadn’t had a f**king dog I would have f**ked off abroad straight away. That was unfortunate," he confessed in the documentary. The dog's presence meant Collins could not flee immediately, allowing police to maintain surveillance and eventually intercept the gang during a meeting at The Castle pub in Islington.
Lip-reading analysis of that meeting helped police understand the raid's timeline and methods. When the gang gathered to divide the bounty, police raided, leading to arrests. Collins humorously noted the media's shift from calling them "SAS soldiers" to "Dad's Army."
Aftermath and Legacy
In March 2016, Collins, Perkins, Jones, Carl Wood, and William Lincoln were jailed for up to seven years each. Seed received a 10-year sentence later. Perkins died in 2018 and Reader in 2023, leaving Collins as one of the few surviving members. Retired judge Christoper Kinch, who presided over the trials, called it a "special case" due to the perpetrators' ages.
Despite the notoriety, Collins expresses no regret for the heist, reflecting on his life of crime without remorse. The documentary, Hatton Garden: The Great Diamond Heist, airs on Channel 4, offering new insights into this captivating chapter of British criminal history.
