Eight in court over London diamond district heist

A convoy of police vans carrying the Hatton Garden diamond heist suspects arrive at Westminster Magistrates court in central London on May 21, 2015. (Photo: AFP/Leon Neal)

LONDON: Eight men charged in connection with an audacious jewellery heist in London's diamond quarter appeared in court for the first time on Thursday (May 21) as prosecutors said the scale of the losses was over £10 million (14 million euros, US$16 million, S$21 million).

Thieves broke into the vault at a safety deposit centre in Hatton Garden in April, where many shopkeepers had left their stock over the Easter holiday weekend, forcing open 73 secure boxes.

Terry Perkins, 67, Daniel Jones, 58, Hugh Doyle, 48, William Lincoln, 59, John Collins, 74, Brian Reader, 76, Paul Reader, 50, and Carl Wood, 58, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with conspiracy to burgle between April 1 and May 19. The mostly grey-haired men listened to proceedings with their arms folded, speaking only to give their names, dates of birth and addresses. They face another legal hearing on June 4.

Meanwhile another man aged 42 was arrested in Essex, east of London, on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle, while another man arrested on Tuesday was bailed.

While it is not known exactly when the raid took place over the holiday weekend, Scotland Yard has apologised after failing to follow up a call from a security company about an intruder alert at the safety deposit centre on the Friday night.

LONDON, May 21, 2015 (AFP) - Eight men charged in connection with an audacious jewellery heist in London's diamond quarter appeared in court for the first time Thursday as prosecutors said the scale of the losses was over £10 million (14 million euros, $16 million).

Thieves broke into the vault at a safety deposit centre in Hatton Garden in April, where many shopkeepers had left their stock over the Easter holiday weekend, forcing open 73 secure boxes.

Terry Perkins, 67, Daniel Jones, 58, Hugh Doyle, 48, William Lincoln, 59, John Collins, 74, Brian Reader, 76, Paul Reader, 50, and Carl Wood, 58, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with conspiracy to burgle between April 1 and May 19.

The mostly grey-haired men listened to proceedings with their arms folded, speaking only to give their names, dates of birth and addresses. They face another legal hearing on June 4.

Meanwhile another man aged 42 was arrested in Essex, east of London, on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle, while another man arrested on Tuesday was bailed.

While it is not known exactly when the raid took place over the holiday weekend, Scotland Yard has apologised after failing to follow up a call from a security company about an intruder alert at the safety deposit centre on the Friday night.