Taxi driver appears in court over Hatton Garden jewel raid bringing total combined age of nine 'Dad's Army' suspects to 532A taxi driver has appeared in court charged with conspiracy to burgle in connection with the Hatton Garden jewellery raid - bringing the combined age of the 'Dad's Army' suspects to 532.
John Harbinson, 42, of Benfleet, Essex, was remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court today after eight other men were in the dock accused of the same charge.
The father-of-three, wearing a dark blue sweatshirt and grey jogging bottoms, stared straight ahead as District Judge Quentin Purdy ordered he return to court with the other defendants next month.
It was revealed yesterday that the losses from the raid at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company in London's jewellery quarter run to in 'excess of £10 million'.
Eight suspected jewel thieves - whose ages range from 48 to 76 - charged in connection with the break-in over the Easter weekend were remanded in custody yesterday.
In the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court were property developer Terry Perkins, 67, Daniel Jones, 58, and bolier engineer Hugh Doyle, 48, all of Enfield, north London.
They were joined by 59-year-old former mechanic William Lincoln, of Bethnal Green, east London, and John Collins, 74, of Islington, north London.
Also in court was the eldest person charged, 76-year-old Brian Reader and his son Paul Reader, 50, both of Dartford Road, Dartford, Kent.
Carl Wood, 58, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, also faces the same charge of conspiracy to burgle between April 1 and May 19 this year.
The men, branded a 'Dad's Army' because of their age, arrived at the court in a convoy of police vans, escorted by armed officers, and spoke only to confirm their names, addresses and dates of birth.
The oldest defendants, grey-haired, balding and bespectacled, repeatedly complained they could not hear during the five-minute hearing.
And prison guards had to help another ageing suspect as he slowly walked to his seat with a pronounced limp.
At one point the younger suspects were forced to step in and shout into their neighbour’s ear so proceedings could get started.
The eight were arrested on Tuesday morning when more than 200 officers swooped on 12 addresses across London and Kent.
Another man, arrested on May 19, has been bailed pending further inquiries.
Prosecutor Edmund Hall said that while the total value of the goods stolen was not yet known, it ran to 'in excess of £10 million' and 73 safety deposit boxes had been looted.
Officers believe thieves got into the building, which houses a number of businesses, through a communal entrance before disabling the lift so they could climb down the shaft to the basement.
It is thought they then forced open shutter doors and used a drill to bore a hole 20in (51cm) deep, 10in (25cm) high and 18in (46in) into the vault wall.
Once inside, the thieves ransacked dozens of safety deposit boxes, taking millions of pounds-worth of items.
After facing criticism for the way the incident was handled, the Metropolitan Police apologised for not following procedures when receiving a call from a security firm about an intruder alert at the premises at midnight on Good Friday.
But Flying Squad detectives rejected the suggestion that they were bungling 'Keystone Cops'.
The nine defendants will appear at Southwark Crown Court on June 4.
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