Hatton Garden accused 'had £20k of debt but pulled out of heist at last minute', court hears

Heist: The hole through which the raiders crawled to get to the jewels
Metropolitan Police
Ramzy Alwakeel15 December 2015
WEST END FINAL

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A man in £20,000 of debt must have been “cursing himself” after pulling out of the Hatton Garden jewel heist at the last minute, a court heard.

Carl Wood, 58, is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of helping carry out a raid on the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit in central London.

Wood owed thousands of pounds in credit card debts and loans and was “living on the breadline”, the court was told.

But he withdrew from the heist part way through when the gang ran into trouble, prosecutors suggested.

Wood is said to have walked away on the night of April 4, two days in, after finding a fire escape door closed.

Prosecutor Philip Evans said: “Your debt situation, I suggest that was your motive for committing these offences.”

Wood replied: “No, it wasn’t.”

Mr Evans added: “On April 7, your hopes that your problems were going to be cured by your profits from the Hatton Garden burglary raid had disappeared.

“That is why on April 7, the first working day back, you were on the phone to both of your most significant debts to make arrangements to pay £1 a month. That is right, isn’t it?”

Wood replied: “That is your suggestion.”

Wood, of Elderbek Close, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, is charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, and one count of conspiracy to convert, conceal or transfer criminal property.

In the dock: A court sketch of (l-r) defendants Carl Wood, William Lincoln, Jon Harbinson and Hugh Doyle Elizabeth Cook/PA
PA

Ringleaders John “Kenny” Collins, 75, Brian Reader, 76, Daniel Jones, 60, and Terry Perkins, 67, have admitted conspiracy to commit burglary at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit between 17 May, 2014, and April 5, 2015.

William Lincoln, 60, of Winkley Street, Bethnal Green, and Jon Harbinson, 42, of Beresford Gardens, Benfleet, are on trial accused of the same offence.

Wood, Lincoln and Harbinson are also charged alongside plumbing engineer Hugh Doyle, 48, of Riverside Gardens, Enfield, with conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property between January 1 and May 19 this year.

Doyle also faces an alternative charge of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property between April 1 and May 19 this year.

After the raid, Jones and fellow Perkins were recorded on police surveillance saying someone called “Carl” must be “cursing himself” and considering suicide, Mr Evans said.

“That ‘Carl’, that is you, isn’t it?” he asked Wood.

Wood replied: “Where does it say that?”

Wood claims he was having a barbecue at home with his wife, daughter and grandchild on April 4.

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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