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Dome Raiders How Scotland Yard Foiled the Greatest Robbery of All Time
The Press called it 'THE HEIST OF THE MILLENNIUM' and 'A PLOT WORTHY OF JAMES BOND'.
In 2000, a gang of villains from the South East of England hatched an audacious plan to steal the world's largest perfect diamond from the Millenium Dome in broad daylight and make their getaway by speedboat.
The gang had figured out an ingenious way to breach the diamond vault but the execution was reliant on timing, brute force and a JCB digger. Had they succeeded, it would have made the spoils of the Great Train Robbery and Brinks Mat look like loose change. They came within a whisker of unimaginable wealth, but it was snatched from under them by one of the most daring police operations ever.
Here is the thrilling and dramatic full story of the robbery - as told by the detective who foiled their plans. Experience the electrifying attacks, the jaw-dropping guile of the villains, the nerves needed for the stakeout and the final, nail-biting confrontation inside the Dome.
In 2000, a gang of villains from the South East of England hatched an audacious plan to steal the world's largest perfect diamond from the Millenium Dome in broad daylight and make their getaway by speedboat.
The gang had figured out an ingenious way to breach the diamond vault but the execution was reliant on timing, brute force and a JCB digger. Had they succeeded, it would have made the spoils of the Great Train Robbery and Brinks Mat look like loose change. They came within a whisker of unimaginable wealth, but it was snatched from under them by one of the most daring police operations ever.
Here is the thrilling and dramatic full story of the robbery - as told by the detective who foiled their plans. Experience the electrifying attacks, the jaw-dropping guile of the villains, the nerves needed for the stakeout and the final, nail-biting confrontation inside the Dome.
- GenresCrime
226 pages, Paperback
First published September 23, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 18, 2014
To use a much-used cliché about real crime books, 'It reads just like a thriller'. It most certainly does as Jon Shatford, with the assistance of William Boyle, tells the tale first hand as he led the team that finally out-thought the robbers.
The book has its gripping highs, its disappointing lows and a perfect ending and it is a difficult one to put down once started. And part of its charm is that the tale is told from the police point of view, which is nicely interspersed with the robbers' plans and dealings. This approach makes it very much a game of chess played for high stakes.
The De Beers Millennium Star was a diamond valued at a staggering £250 million pounds and when it was displayed in the high security De Beers vault at the Millennium Dome it was too much of a temptation for the robbers to resist. They tried their method in two earlier attacks on security vans, both of which failed but they were undeterred and went ahead with their plans for the big, as they saw it, retirement hoist.
Once the police had word of an attempted robbery they began to put their plans in place, with great resources put to this purpose. When each perceived date of the robbery passed with nothing happening, police morale took a hit but they persisted and eventually that persistence paid off and they foiled the raid right in the dome itself, despite higher authority feeling that they should have struck earlier. On each occasion this approach was suggested, Shatford explained that they had no first-hand evidence to present at any trial and persisted in his view that they had to strike when the robbery was taking place to be certain to win convictions. Eventually the chiefs had no alternative but to agree.
One slight, and wryly amusing, twist is revealed at the end of the story, which the press revelled in with The Sun producing the most amusing headline - 'I'm only here for the De Beers'!
It is a most un-put-downable read, which would have been difficult to equal by any of the great thriller writers.
The book has its gripping highs, its disappointing lows and a perfect ending and it is a difficult one to put down once started. And part of its charm is that the tale is told from the police point of view, which is nicely interspersed with the robbers' plans and dealings. This approach makes it very much a game of chess played for high stakes.
The De Beers Millennium Star was a diamond valued at a staggering £250 million pounds and when it was displayed in the high security De Beers vault at the Millennium Dome it was too much of a temptation for the robbers to resist. They tried their method in two earlier attacks on security vans, both of which failed but they were undeterred and went ahead with their plans for the big, as they saw it, retirement hoist.
Once the police had word of an attempted robbery they began to put their plans in place, with great resources put to this purpose. When each perceived date of the robbery passed with nothing happening, police morale took a hit but they persisted and eventually that persistence paid off and they foiled the raid right in the dome itself, despite higher authority feeling that they should have struck earlier. On each occasion this approach was suggested, Shatford explained that they had no first-hand evidence to present at any trial and persisted in his view that they had to strike when the robbery was taking place to be certain to win convictions. Eventually the chiefs had no alternative but to agree.
One slight, and wryly amusing, twist is revealed at the end of the story, which the press revelled in with The Sun producing the most amusing headline - 'I'm only here for the De Beers'!
It is a most un-put-downable read, which would have been difficult to equal by any of the great thriller writers.
September 4, 2013
Great insight into the investigation of a major London crime
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews