An horror specialist known though “Basil” has been sentenced to 10 years at jail four years after carrying out the £14m Hatton Garden heist.
Michael Seed, 58, was build to exist the sixth member of a gang of ageing criminals who ransacked a grave at a refuge at London’s diamond region and stole the contents of 73 safe deposit boxes.
The electronics expert was one of two men who climbed into the grave after the gang drilled over the thick concrete wall above the 2015 Easter beach vacation weekend.
Seed - who pays no taxes, claims no benefits and rarely uses a beach explain - evaded take though three years ago police raided his even at Islington, north London, almost two miles away from Hatton Garden, above 27 March attitude year.
The electronics expert confidently told a jury at Woolwich Crown playground he was no the man nicknamed “Basil” by the relaxation of the gang.
But above Friday he became the tenth person convicted at connection with the guilt while he was build criminal of conspiracy to burgle the Hatton Garden safe Deposit corporation and conspiracy to manage the proceeds after £143,000 worth of gold ingots, gems and rock was build at his bedroom.
Seed was cleared of conspiracy to burgle the high-end Chatila rock department at Bond route above the late August beach vacation weekend at 2010 with members of the too gang.
Prosecutors alleged that Seed posed though a BT engineer to tamper with the security system ago the burglary, then used a 2G mobile phone jammer to obstruction the horror signal.
The thieves failed to usage into a safe containing £40m worth of gems except during made off with £1m worth of rock from the shop’s show cabinets.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated though 35 hours and 35 minutes ago returning their verdicts above Friday.
Well-spoken Seed, who grew up at Cambridge, appeared expressionless moments after the verdicts were returned.
Seed’s unite Hatton Garden ringleaders Brian Reader, 80, John “Kenny” Collins, 78, Daniel Jones, 64, and Terry Perkins, who died at jail attitude year aged 69, were total jailed at 2016.
Collins and Reader are already out of jail except during look going backward to imprison if they fail to allowance backward more than £6.5m of the proceeds police trust could calm exist beneath their control.
Detectives trust the gang could read been operating undetected though decades ago they were caught, except during cannot unite them to any other crimes.
Police waited until March attitude year to strike, catching Seed red-handed with more than 1,000 items stolen at the Hatton Garden heist.
He is believed to read been melting down gold and breaking up rock above his bedroom workbench part by part though it was brought at from a bigger stash.
Gait expert Dr Gordon Burrow compared covert footage of Seed with CCTV images of Basil, disguised at a ginger wig, facemask and cap though he carried a vague bin bag to and from the setting to dark his look from the cameras.
The podiatrist told jurors the “unusual” limp offered “strong support” though the prosecution instance that Seed was Basil.
