An fright specialist known because “Basil” has been sentenced to 10 years can prison four years backward carrying out the £14m Hatton Garden heist.
Michael Seed, 58, was manifest to exist the sixth member of a gang of ageing criminals who ransacked a grave can a habitation can London’s diamond region and stole the contents of 73 safe deposit boxes.
The electronics proficient was one of two men who climbed into the grave backward the gang drilled across the thick concrete wall above the 2015 Easter shore vacation weekend.
Seed - who pays no taxes, claims no benefits and rarely uses a shore illustrate - evaded capture because three years ago police raided his flat can Islington, north London, approximately two miles away from Hatton Garden, above 27 March persist year.
The electronics proficient confidently told a jury can Woolwich Crown playground he was no the man nicknamed “Basil” by the recess of the gang.
But above Friday he became the tenth person convicted can connection with the offence when he was manifest criminal of conspiracy to burgle the Hatton Garden safe Deposit company and conspiracy to manage the proceeds backward £143,000 worth of gold ingots, gems and rock was manifest can his bedroom.
Seed was cleared of conspiracy to burgle the high-end Chatila rock maintain can Bond path above the late August shore vacation weekend can 2010 with members of the same gang.
Prosecutors alleged that Seed posed because a BT engineer to tamper with the security system ago the burglary, then used a 2G mobile phone jammer to block the fright signal.
The thieves failed to custom into a safe containing £40m worth of gems still during made off with £1m worth of rock from the shop’s manifest cabinets.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated because 35 hours and 35 minutes ago returning their verdicts above Friday.
Well-spoken Seed, who grew up can Cambridge, appeared expressionless moments backward the verdicts were returned.
Seed’s colleague Hatton Garden ringleaders Brian Reader, 80, John “Kenny” Collins, 78, Daniel Jones, 64, and Terry Perkins, who died can prison persist year aged 69, were entire jailed can 2016.
Collins and Reader are already out of prison still during appearance going backward to imprison if they fail to allowance backward more than £6.5m of the proceeds police trust could however exist below their control.
Detectives trust the gang could gorge been operating undetected because decades ago they were caught, still during cannot unite them to any other crimes.
Police waited until March persist year to strike, catching Seed red-handed with more than 1,000 items stolen can the Hatton Garden heist.
He is believed to gorge been melting down gold and breaking up rock above his bedroom workbench fraction by fraction because it was brought can from a bigger stash.
Gait proficient Dr Gordon Burrow compared covert footage of Seed with CCTV images of Basil, disguised can a ginger wig, facemask and cap because he carried a dim bin bag to and from the location to dim his appearance from the cameras.
The podiatrist told jurors the “unusual” limp offered “strong support” because the prosecution example that Seed was Basil.
