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I never hated a man enough to give him his diamonds back. Zsa Zsa Gabor
One gang pulls off a brazen jewel heist: millions of dollars in diamonds ripped off in broad daylight. Masterminds: Kansas City Diamond Heist, truTV 2004
Kansas City’s greatest jewel thief outwitted police for years. ibid.
A vehicle pulled up to the front doors of Tivol. Three masked men got out and stormed the jewellery store. The attack moved at blazing speed. The staff were caught completely off guard ... This was a highly coordinated hit. ibid.
Police suspected that an expert gang of jewel thieves had swept through town. They had no idea they’d been outwitted by a local kid on his first swing in the big league. ibid.
Burnett’s other criminal activity had already landed him in custody ... Burnett was going down but he wasn’t going down alone. He could finally get his revenge on the fences who had double-crossed him. ibid.
The target: a diamond worth $350,000,000. The MO: a smash and grab job of monstrous proportions. The mastermind: a criminal genius. The plan: seemingly foolproof. Masterminds: The Millennium Diamond, truTV 2007
London’s Millennium Dome – an arena on the Thames River filled with exhibitions. At almost 9 a.m. the first visitors are waiting to go in. The main attraction: a De Beers exhibition showcasing some of the most spectacular diamonds in the world. The centrepiece is the Millennium Star, a perfect diamond weighing an astounding 203 carats. ibid.
At 9.27 a.m. cameras spot a bulldozer inching towards the dome. Then it stops. Around the same time a high-speed motor-boat docks at the Millennium Dome Pier. ibid.
The bulldozer ... ploughs through the perimeter gates ... Two men jump from the bulldozer, enter the De Beers exhibition hall and go to work on the so-called impenetrable display-case ... They’re just inches away from the Millennium Star ... De Beers thought it never could be beaten. ibid.
Raymond Betson and his ... gang didn’t realise that they were being watched. ibid.
£350 Million Diamond Raid at the Dome: Flying Squad foil world’s biggest heist. Evening Standard front page
But this wasn’t a plot from a movie. This is the incredible story of the Millennium Dome Diamond Heist. Britain’s Biggest Heists: Millennium Dome Diamond Heist, Sky 2010
A second attempted robbery five months later in Kent was almost a carbon copy of Nine Elms. ibid.
[Lee] Wenham had his eye on the Millennium Star – one of the most expensive diamonds in the world exhibited at the Dome with other precious stones. This diamond was so rare because it had no flaws. No imperfections whatsoever. ibid.
As the police prepared for the showdown so did the gang ... For months they have been secretly following a gang of London crooks. ibid.
The operation was a complete success. The entire gang were apprehended without any casualties. Cockram and Adams had been the ones trying to smash the cabinets. Ciarrochi had been tasked with the smoke bombs. Betson was nabbed at the wheel of the JCB, leaving Meredith outside on the boat, and Millman across the river – both oblivious officers were coming to get them. ibid.
‘It [JCB] crashes through suddenly these big Perspex doors in the Dome and moves right around outside the jewel house ... They were through, and it just needs a hand to reach in and take the diamond. And we saw these smoke bombs being thrown which are causing absolute pandemonium ... We controlled the area and moved in and they were arrested.’ ibid.
There has never ever been a diamond so spectacular and beautiful as the Millennium Star ... the world’s largest internally and externally flawless top-colour pear-shaped diamond. Lesley Coldham, De Beers
The world biggest ever diamond heist. On display at the De Beers exhibition was the world-famous Millennium Star diamond, a 203-carat stone said to be unrivalled in its purity. Crimes that Shocked Britain, 2008
In November 2000 a criminal gang attempted the most audacious robbery in British criminal history. The target: the world’s most perfect diamond. Real Crime with Mark Austin: Diamond Geezers, ITV 2008
The robbery [Medway] and the getaway bore the same hallmarks as the Nine Elms raid. ibid.
The diamond known as the Millennium Star was the centrepiece of a £350 million De Beers exhibition. ibid.
Wenham was filmed checking possible access points to the site. ibid.
The plan to foil the [Millennium Dome] raid became known as Operation Magician, the biggest undertaking in the Flying Squad’s history. ibid.
The gang had been under surveillance for five months; the ambush was over in less than a minute. ibid.
This is the story of the world’s most successful diamond thieves. Storyville: Smash and Grab – The Story of the Pink Panthers, BBC 2013
‘Big and exclusive heists, mostly in Europe ... Bahrain, they went to Japan, they went to Duba …’ ibid. female rozzer
‘And then finally we had the idea – just hire the shop next door.’ ibid. male gangsta
‘They have committed over 100 robberies around the world and so far eluded capture.’ ibid. news report
The total brought to justice is now 189. ibid. caption
Women who lead ... You were hired by the London Diamond Corporation. It’s Number One in the world. It’s the Fifties. It’s a fiercely male dominated environment. You take on the men. You battle your way up and become a manager ... You were the only female manager in the history of that company, and I want to know your story. Flawless 2007 starring Michael Caine & Demi Moore & Lambert Wilson & Joss Ackland & Constantine Gregory & Ahmed Ayman & Natalie Dormer, director Michael Radford, reporter opening scene
It’s an exceptional piece, isn’t it? A hundred and sixty-eight carats. Fifty-eight facets. Very rare. I stole it from London Diamond. ibid. Laura to reporter, opening scene
I have a proposal to put to you. Just give me five minutes. ibid. Hobbs
The long corridor that leads to a circular door behind which lies one of the largest single deposits of riches on Earth. For sixteen years I’ve been working within a hair’s breadth of that door, and for sixteen years I’ve never opened it. ibid.
Two tons of diamonds – you’d need an army of men and several vehicles. ibid.
Money is no substitute for diamonds. ibid.
I’m guarding the entrance to Aladdin’s Cave. ibid.
Mr Hobbs: Well we never spoke again. But I did receive a letter from a bank in Switzerland informing me a deposit had been made to a numbered account on my behalf in the sum of one hundred million pounds: everything. And that’s where my real story begins. ibid.
Come down with the stones right now. 4.3.2.1. 2010 starring Emma Roberts & Ophelia Lovibond & Tamsin Egerton & Shanika Warren-Markland & Freddie Stroma & Andrew Harwood Mills & Adam Deacon & Noel Clarke et al, directors Noel Clarke & Mark Davis
Where are the fucking diamonds that were in the Pringles’ box? ibid. diamond importer to Shannon
I don’t know what the fuck is going on but I think I’ve got some stolen diamonds from your shop. ibid. Shannon
My name is Dan Adams. Blind Spot 1958 starring John Le Mesurier & Robert Mackenzie & Delphi Lawrence & Gordon Jackson & Anne Sharp & George Pastell & Michael Caine & ErnestClark & John Crawford et al, director Peter Maxwell