Jewellery Focus March 2018 | Page 7

MONTH IN REVIEW GO ONLINE www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk BRAVERY Hairdresser intervenes in jewellery raid A hairdresser intervened during a jewellery raid by throwing outdoor shop signage at the thieves breaking into a jewellery store in Billericay. According to a report by The Echo four people on mopeds tried to smash their way into Coleby’s Jewellers at 11.30am on 31 January, using sledge hammers to break the shop’s glass windows. CCTV footage showed a member of staff from the LJR Hair and Beauty hair salon throwing the store’s sign at the gang. It narrowly missed them, and in retaliation one of the gang members smashed the salon’s window. Lauren Vinicombe, LJR Hair and Beauty, said: “We do have a bit of a hero here but I don’t really want to talk about what happened yesterday, I want to put it behind us. It’s business as usual and we are fine. We are going to remain open as normal. I am thankful to my team for continuing to do their work.” Ricky Coleby, owner of the jewellery store, sai d: “I would like to say thank you for the great support from the public. There was a great community spirit from everyone. Lots of witnesses have come forward to help out with the police investigation. We will not be shut by this and will remain open as usual.” Copyright Notice In the November 2017 issue of Jewellery Focus we ran an image of some pearls alongside Louise Tippey’s British Pearl Association contribution, without a credit to the owner - it should have been credited to Heidi Kjeldsen Ltd. We have now amended this on the re-published version of the article on our website, and apologise to Heidi for the inadvertent omission of this copyright credit. www.heidikjeldsen.co.uk March 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk 1 CRIME Hatton Garden jewellery thief dies in jail Terry Perkins, one of the gang members involved with the Hatton Garden jewellery raid, has died in prison aged 69. He was one of the four ringleaders behind the notorious robbery and his death comes just one week after the gang was ordered to pay a total fine of £27.5m or spend seven more years in jail. The men drilled a hole in the wall of a vault at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit in Easter 2015. The raid was labelled as the “largest burglary in English legal history” and two thirds of the valuables still have not been recovered. According to reports Perkins was serving his sentence in HMP Belmarsh and is believed to have been ill for some time. The prison service said: “As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.” TOP 3 FROM THE WEBSITE 1. De Beers to sell Elizabeth Bay mine 2. Sotheby’s Diamonds unveils ‘exceptionally’ rare white diamond 3. Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery expands its portfolio with Primrose Hill shop 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 STAT OF THE MONTH $1.8bn That’s how much diamond jeweller Nirav Modi is alleged to have defrauded from the Punjab National Bank, one of India’s largest banking firms INVESTIGATION Fourth man charged in Leicester jeweller murder inquiry A fourth man has been charged in connection with the death and alleged kidnap of a jeweller from Leicester. The jeweller who was named as Ramniklal Jogiya, 74, was found dead in Gaulby Lane, Stoughton on 25 January after he had gone missing as he walked home from work. Javon Roach, 29, of Norwich Road Leicester, has been charged with kidnap and robbery of Mr Jogiya and is due to appear at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Monday. The three other men believed to be involved, aged 19, 20 and 23, have also been charged with kidnap and robbery and are in custody. Police said three men who featured in another appeal in connection with this death had been found. Two men, aged 22 and 18, have been released under investigation and two men, aged 20 and 21, have been released with no further action. Detectives had earlier appealed for information about a white van and motorcycle pictured on Aylestone Road, Leicester, on the night of Mr Jogiya’s disappearance. JEWELLERY FOCUS 7