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		</div><p>Two Hatton Garden raiders posed as workmen to break into a high-end London jewellers in a burglary bearing striking similarities to the daring multi-million pound heist five years later, a court has heard.</p>
<p>Terry Perkins, 68, and Daniel Jones, 59, described as &#8220;premier league criminals&#8221;, are alleged to have broken into Chatila jewellers in Old Bond Street on the August bank holiday weekend in 2010.</p>
<p>The men, wearing high-visibility jackets, are said to have gained access to the building before attempting to drill into the safe of a rear office containing over $50m worth of jewellery, Southwark Crown Court heard.</p>
<p>They were unable to break the safe but did gain access to a ground floor show room, where they are alleged to have stolen £1 million in jewellery and precious stones, prosecutor Philip Evans QC said<br />
Perkins, from Enfield, denies one count of burglary at the Mayfair jewellers between August 28 and August 31 2010.</p>
<p>Jones, also from Enfield and a &#8220;close associate&#8221; of Perkins, pleaded guilty to his role at an earlier hearing ahead of the trial, the jury was told.</p>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_1147.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_1147.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="325" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108202" /></a></p>
<p>The men were two of those who carried out &#8220;one of the biggest burglaries in English history&#8221; when they stole at least £14 million worth of goods from deposit boxes in the basement vault of Hatton Garden between April 3 and April 5 2015, the court heard.</p>
<p>Both pleaded guilty to their part in the plot, which prosecutor Mr Evans said bore &#8220;striking&#8221; similarities to the burglary at Chatila.</p>
<p>This included the targeting of a highly-secure premises over multiple days on a bank holiday weekend and the use of high-visibility clothing as a distraction.</p>
<p>He told the jury: &#8220;The similarities between the burglary at Chatila back in 2010 and the burglary at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit are striking.</p>
<p>&#8220;They are striking in their similarities.<br />
&#8220;Those similarities, say the prosecution, are not simply explained by coincidence, but because Perkins and Jones were involved in both.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_1148.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_1148.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="325" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108203" /></a></p>
<p>It is alleged entry was gained to the communal lobby next to the Chatila store through the front door, using a key or key code.</p>
<p>The lift doors on the ground floor were forced open and two ladders used to gain access down the lift shaft to the basement, the court heard.</p>
<p>A hole was then made in the wall of the lift shaft to allow access to the rest of the basement, where a door was breached so the men could climb the stairs up to the ground floor level of Chatila, Mr Evans said.<br />
An attempt to breach a safe in the rear office, where jewellery was kept over holiday periods, failed but cabinets in the main showroom and corridor were forced open.</p>
<p>A blue and black glove was found in the electrical alarm cupboard at Chatila by an electrician on September 3, days after the burglary, which proved a &#8220;partial&#8221; match for Jones, the court heard.</p>
<p>The sample was analysed again using more sensitive techniques in 2015, Mr Evans said.<br />
&#8220;It is estimated that the probability of the profile coming from someone other than Jones was one in a billion,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>A &#8220;milky fluid&#8221; was also found sprayed on the store&#8217;s display cabinets, similar to one left at the premises at Hatton Garden five years later.</p>
<p>Matthews, who runs a scrap metal dealership in east London and is described as a &#8220;long-term associate&#8221; of Perkins, is alleged to have been in possession of items stolen from the Chatila burglary, the court heard.<br />
The prosecution said he is not accused of being involved in the burglary or disposing of the goods from the premises.</p>
<p>Police, who searched his office in August 2015, found a black plastic bag hidden behind a removable ceiling tile containing 50 diamonds worth £48,750, two emeralds and a jewel encrusted bangle identified as being stolen from Chatila.</p>
<p>Fingerprints belonging to Matthews were found on a plastic seal bag containing one of the emeralds, Mr Evans said.</p>
<p>The court heard how police covertly recorded Perkins and Jones in a car in May 2015 following the Hatton Garden burglary, and heard them mention by description &#8211; not name &#8211; an earlier raid.</p>
<p>According to a transcript read to court, Jones said: &#8220;One box would have probably been more than all them boxes in there.&#8221; He later adds: &#8220;It would have frit the f****** life out of ya, I&#8217;ll tell you know that cos they are all riff raff down there.&#8221;</p>
<p>Prosecutor Mr Evans said: &#8220;That, say the prosecution, is a rather unflattering description of the Hatton Garden area.&#8221; He said Jones&#8217; later comment &#8211; &#8220;Up there you&#8217;re talking serious&#8221; &#8211; was a reference to the &#8220;type of people who frequent Mayfair&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;Wealthy people who may shop in a jewellers like Chatila,&#8221; he said.</p>
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