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
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.
The Millennium Dome: icon of the year 2000. Home to a celebration of the new century. And on display at its heart a £350 million millennium diamond. In November 2000 this 7-ton earth-mover made headlines around the world when it was involved in the biggest diamond heist in British criminal history. A criminal gang had one target: the Mona Lisa of diamonds. The Millennium Dome Heist with Ross Kemp, ITV 2020
If the gang pull it off, it will be the equivalent of twelve Great Train Robberies, seven Brink’s-Mat bullion jobs, and thirty-eight Hatton Garden safe-deposit heists. ibid.
But Security Express was vulnerable on bank holidays when at times only one guard was on duty. Robberies of the Century
Eventually the trail led to the Godfather himself Freddie Foreman. ibid.
Like Foreman he [Ronnie Knight] was convicted of handling the Security Express money and sentenced to seven years. ibid.
To date of the £7 million that was stolen from Security Express only £2 million has been recovered. ibid.
On the 26th November 1983, six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat depot near London’s Heathrow Airport. They were expecting to find a million pounds worth of foreign currency. Instead, they found gold bullion worth £26 million. It was the largest robbery in world history and changed British crime and policing forever. The Gold s1e1: To Be a King, BBC 2023
Kenny, we here you can handle gold … Well that’s lucky ’cause we’re outside your house. ibid. call on dog-n-bone
Go through his [Nick’s] statement again. Every line. ibid. rozzer
I don’t want to be wondering which of my team are Masons, which are on the take and which are both. ibid. DCI Boyce
See what your mate in Sheffield makes of that. ibid. Kenneth to John
I’m ready. I can be a king. ibid. Kenneth
Ready? Well then we’d best get started. The Gold s1e2: There’s Something Going on In Kent, McAvoy
Kenneth Noye. He’s linked to a McAvoy associate and has convictions for fencing stolen goods. ibid. rozzer Jennings
As we speak, every ring, every watch, every retirement clock, has a little bit of Brink’s-Mat in it. ibid. Customs’ gold specialist
If he won’t stop and we won’t stop, then it’s a race. ibid. McAvoy
It looks like we have our next link … Owner of jewellery shops across the west country. The Gold s1e3: The Consequences are Mine, DCI Boyce
Not long now, Jeannie, and we’ll all be on holiday. ibid. McAvoy
Vengeance is easy, justice is hard. If we allow ourselves to be ruled by vengeance, by emotion, by anger, we shall make mistakes and justice will not be served. The Gold s1e4: Vengeance is Easy, Justice is Hard
I trade jewellery. That would be like nicking a jockey for having a horse. ibid. Noye to Boyce
Nothing is every going to be the same again. ibid. John’s wife
You had enough money, Mr Cooper before this even started. ibid. Gordon
We need to build a conspiracy case against Noye. The Gold s1e5 *****: The Boy You Were, Boyce
You’re calling your dogs after the job that go 25 years. ibid. McAvoy to mistress
Boyce has issued arrest warrants for yourself and Gordon Parry. ibid. Neville the Mason
It’s time to do something about Boyce. ibid. Mason to McAvoy
But you’ve entered a world that doesn’t respect the establishment. A world where handshakes offer little protection against bullies. The Gold s1e6: I’ll be Remembered, Boyce to solicitor
I’m going up against systems … Those systems are powerful and they are dangerous … This is only the start. ibid. Boyce to bosses
The higher you go the better they hide. But they’re villains all the same and they’re scared. ibid. Boyce
Let them come and go in the dark. And we will hunt them in the light. ibid.
Unit 7 on the Heathrow Trading Estate is a top-security warehouse. Shortly before 7 o’clock this morning six men carrying guns and wearing balaclava helmets burst in. Tony Black was the weak link in the robbers’ plan. The Gold: The Inside Story, rozzer, BBC 2023
6,800 bars of gold. This is the biggest robbery in the world. ibid.
For his part in the conspiracy to handle the Brinks-Mat gold and evading VAT, Kenneth Noye is jailed for fourteen years. ibid.
‘I hope you all die of cancer.’ ibid. Noye to jury on conviction
We found that money the Isle of Man was going over to the States. ibid.
Had come back and it had funded the importation of ecstasy in this country. ibid. rozzer
A thief inspired by a Sherlock Holmes mystery attempts something outrageous; digging through eight tons of dirt they are confident they will hit their own payday. Greatest Heists with Pierce Brosnan s1e1: The Baker Street Bank Burglary, History 2023
The safe deposit boxes here at the Baker Street branch of Lloyds bank are where London’s rich and powerful stash their wealth. And their secrets. It’s a tantilising target. ibid.
Its bombproof door weights five tons; its steel reinforced concrete walls are three feet thick; and its one thousand safe-deposit boxes require two keys to open them; and then there are the alarms … ibid.
Tunnelling is slow difficult work. They have to do it for forty feet to reach the vault. ibid.
An amateur radio enthusiast has tuned in. ibid.
In scenes that seem to come straight out of a film script – the dozen de Beers diamonds at the Dome in London. Inside the Heist s1e1: The Millennium Diamonds, Quest 2022
The Millennium Star is the diamond of all diamonds. A once in a lifetime discovery – 777 carats. ibid.
The Millennium Dome is the most ambitious plan the country has seen for years … De Beers, the world’s most famous diamond merchants, are called in to add sparkle. ibid.
‘The Flying Squad observed the gang carrying out reconnaissance of the Millennium dome at really random times.’ ibid.
Hatton Garden area is the jewellery quarter of London. One of the big diamond centres. Inside the Heist s1e3: Hatton Gardon Job
The target is the vault of the Hatton Garden safety deposit company which is the basement of 88-90 Hatton Garden. ibid.
In November 1983 a gang of armed robbers broke into a security depot near London’s Heathrow Airport and made off with three tons of pure gold worth £26 million. Nearly 40 years on some of the robbers have never been caught and much of the gold has never been recovered. Blood Money: The Curse of the Brink’s-Mat Robbery, Channel 5 2024
A gang of up to six masked armed men burst through the door. ibid.
These guys have been let into the building. It has to be an inside job. ibid. rozzer
They follow the same drill with another guard – Tony Black. ibid.
Noye and his associates orchestrate a plan to smelt the gold and create new unidentifiable gold bars that can later be sold. ibid.
Detectives are unable to bring Palmer back for questioning. ibid.
They may not have been able to prove that Brink’s money was being laundered in the British Virgin Islands but their suspicions remained. ibid.
Palmer walked free. ibid.
After being released from prison, Kenneth Noye becomes the subject of a police manhunt. ibid.