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Hatton Garden theft

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Mojo

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This story has been in the news for most of the week, but one thing I've been wondering is, if valuables worth several hundred million pounds are stored there, why are there no security staff present? It seems pretty standard in many commercial premises to have a night time security guard; it's not as if it costs a lot, such staff typically earn £8-9 per hour.
 
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Xenophon PCDGS

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With regard to the matter of the police and their stated decision, is it not the case that this company had caused a certain number of false alarms in a certain period of time, which automatically triggers a lowering of police response under their response policy regime.
 

EM2

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This story has been in the news for most of the week, but one thing I've been wondering is, if valuables worth several hundred million pounds are stored there, why are there no security staff present? It seems pretty standard in many commercial premises to have a night time security guard; it's not as if it costs a lot, such staff typically earn £8-9 per hour.

There are:
http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/08/hatto...h-to-investigate-when-alarm-went-off-5139492/
A security guard at a Hatton Garden business that lost up to £200 million in a robbery this weekend reportedly said he didn’t investigate when he heard the alarm going off on Friday because he ‘wasn’t paid enough’.

Approximately 60 to 70 boxes at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company were believed to be opened and up to 300 taken after robbers entered the building through a lift shaft before breaking into a vault.

And Norman Bean, who has a diamond ring and bracelets stored in one of the vaults, claimed that a security guard told him he ‘wasn’t paid enough’ to investigate when he heard an alarm going off on Friday.

‘I came down and spoke to a security guard today,’ he said.

‘He said he came on Friday, the alarm was going off. He went downstairs, looked through the door, through the windows and couldn’t see anything and came out again, that was it.

‘I said, “Well why didn’t you open up and have a look in?”

‘He told me he doesn’t get paid enough.’
 

Peter Mugridge

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Presumably the value quoted as having been stolen is based on figures provided by the owners, so we can probably at least halve the sum...?;)
 

AM9

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One wonders how many of the boxes contained things that their owners didn't want anybody to know existed, least of all the tax authorities!
 

Busaholic

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Could the mysterious underground fire in the Kingsway area a few days before the Hatton Garden job be linked? The retired ex-head of the Flying Squad said he was convinced it was, and I'd think he has acquaintances providing him with some information.

I wonder if a French film company will do a reverse Clouseau with inept Scotland Yard detectives speaking in cod cockney accents?!
 

Springs Branch

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Indeed! One wonders how geared up the police are for old fashioned safebreaking these days. No doubt if they thought a 1970's celebrity was involved they would have been round there like a shot.

I wonder, when the Met finally come bursting through the door to find the villains counting out the diamonds, if they still say "you're nicked!"
 

Abpj17

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Could the mysterious underground fire in the Kingsway area a few days before the Hatton Garden job be linked? The retired ex-head of the Flying Squad said he was convinced it was, and I'd think he has acquaintances providing him with some information.

Pretty unlikely - they simply aren't that close.

Today's news is that it might have been an inside job
 

Busaholic

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Pretty unlikely - they simply aren't that close.

Today's news is that it might have been an inside job

They aren't that close, but they aren't too far away from each other either, particularly as the crow flies, or, to put it another way, the gas flows. The guy wearing a GAS tabard on the CCTV probably hadn't just knocked off from his shift, but had maybe used it previously to gain access to underground parts. Given this heist will have been in the planning for months, if not years, the Kingsway fire a few days before the Long Good Friday would have provided unparalleled access opportunities, especially during the initial panicky stages, and in fragmented infrastructure utilities, to someone with sufficient rudimentary knowledge and a degree of brass neck and authoritative manner, such access might have been granted.

Anyway, it was only the ex-chief of the Flying Squad who said it!:)
 

jon0844

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I do wonder if there's a connection. The two incidents aren't that close, but as said above - they're still pretty close and given nobody really knew for 24 hours or so exactly what was going on, it's quite feasible to think that people relatively close could believe, if told by someone official looking, there could be problems that need investigating in relation to the incident.

Say it's a gas pipe that runs through/near your property, or a sewer, or electrical cable ducting, that is the same as up the road and why wouldn't you believe them? In emergency situations, it's probably easy to get access without the necessary paperwork. Imagine asking for ID/paperwork when you're being told 'We need to get in now, or you might be on fire next'.

Classic A-Team tactics!!
 

Hadders

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The Kingsway fire certainly had an effect in Hatton Gardens.

The head office of the company I work for is opposite Hatton Gardens and there was major disruption to the phone and computer network because of the fire.
 

Busaholic

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If there was no connection, it was surely mighty strange that a member of the gang was wearing a tabard bearing the word 'Gas', not presumably part of his everyday wear. It has also still not been revealed how they gained access to the property, if indeed it is known.
 
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