Jury sworn in to try Hatton Garden jewel heist defendants
A jury has been sworn in for the trial of four men charged in connection with the Hatton Garden jewellery raid.
Valuables, including precious gems, worth up to £20 million were taken when thieves broke into Hatton Garden Safe Deposit over the Easter weekend.
Three men are charged with conspiracy to commit burglary between May 17 2014 and 7.30am on April 5 this year.
They are: Carl Wood, 58, of Elderbeck Close, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire; William Lincoln, 60, of Winkley Street, Bethnal Green, east London; and Jon Harbinson, 42, of Beresford Gardens, Benfleet, Essex.
Hugh Doyle, 48, of Riverside Gardens, Enfield, north London, is jointly charged with them on one count of conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property between January 1 and May 19, this year.
He also faces an alternative charge of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property between April 1 and May 19, this year.
They all deny the charges at Woolwich Crown Court in south east London, and spoke only to confirm their identities.
Dressed in a long-sleeved grey t-shirt, and with a faint moustache, bespectacled Lincoln asked for the clerk to speak up.
Six men and women were sworn in on the jury for the trial that is due to open later in the week, with two additional women being sworn in as spare jurors.
Before being empanelled the potential jurors were asked by Judge Christopher Kinch QC: "Do you have any close personal connection with the jewellery trade in general, or the Hatton Garden area in particular, or with any person or business that lost property in the Hatton Garden burglary earlier this year?"
They were also told the trial is expected to last around four weeks, but that the "worst case scenario" is that it will not finish until January 15, next year.
Philip Evans will begin presenting the case on behalf of the prosecution on Thursday.
Doyle, who was dressed in his black plumbing work clothes, is on bail, while the other men are remanded in custody.
Detectives believe the raid was carried out after thieves used a drill to bore a hole 20in deep, 10in high and 18in into the wall of a vault.
Once inside, the gang ransacked 73 safety deposit boxes, taking items worth between £15 million and £20 million.
John Collins, 75, of Blestoe Walk, Islington; Daniel Jones, 58, of Park Avenue, Enfield; Terry Perkins, 67, of Heene Road, Enfield; and Brian Reader, 76, of Dartford Road, Dartford, have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.
They are due to be sentenced on a date to be confirmed.
