Diamonds, Diggers & Deception: The Millennium Dome Diamond Heist

Season 2 episode 6! A flawless diamond, a gang of 'old school' crooks, and a JCB digger smashing through the Millennium Dome in Greenwich - what could possibly go wrong? 

In this episode, Rach takes us inside one of the most audacious (and utterly disastrous) heist attempts in British history - the 2000 Millennium Dome raid. A gang of career criminals set their sights on the Millennium Star, a £100m diamond that was too good not to go after! Armed with sledgehammers, smoke grenades and a construction vehicle, they stormed the Dome, believing they were moments away from unimaginable wealth. Instead? They walked straight into one of the most elaborate police stings ever executed - Operation Magician...

We break down the gang's previous failed heists, the police's meticulous planning and the moment everything fell apart. Plus, fair warning - we were a little unhinged when recording this one, so expect some chaotic energy alongside the crime! 

Listen now for the heist that could have been legendary...if it hadn't been an absolute disaster. 

Sources include: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Dome_raid

The Millennium Dome Diamond Heist with Ross Kemp - ITV documentary

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/the-old-style-kent-crooks-who-tried-to-raid-the-dome-236957/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Star

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1010974.stm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/four-jailed-in-dome-diamond-heist-case-9271785.html

https://www.naturaldiamonds.com/in/epic-diamonds-in/the-millennium-dome-raid-story-behind-the-de-beers-diamond-heist/

https://discover.hubpages.com/politics/the-millennium-dome-raid-a-daring-heist-foiled-by-meticulous-planning

https://anglotopia.net/british-history/british-mysteries-and-true-crime-the-millennium-dome-heist/

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3420255.stm

Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."

Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...

Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

Transcript

Millennium Dome

Hello. Hi, I'm Rachel. I'm Hannah.

And this is the Sinister South podcast, a podcast all about the nefarious and untoward in the south of London. Very well done. Very succinct.

I love it. I am going to make a call back to the fact that we have just tried to record the beginning of this. I don't know why you're bringing it up.

Because it's funny. We've just tried to record the beginning of this. We managed to get 21 minutes in before we went.

This is fucking batshit. We're trying to try again. I took a phone call halfway through.

She did. But it was more the fact that like, I really like the word malevolent. And I'm really upset you didn't say it this time.

What is the shape? Machiavellian! Machiavellian! And again, out of context, that's going to be fucking mental. Just you shouting Machiavellian. Oh, basically, in the last episode, I will get Will, actually, Will, you can slice just that first bit in right about now.

A podcast all about the untoward... Oh, no. I was going to say mercurial and that is not the word I meant at all. Malevolent? Maybe that's where I was going.

Yeah. What's the one that always makes me think of Shakespeare? Malevolent? No, that makes me think of Sleeping Beauty. Honestly, malevolent makes me think of Malvolio, which is Shakespeare.

No. I don't know. Makishio, that is just Shakespeare.

Oh, dear. Bottom. I don't know.

But it's a podcast about South London, guys. And all the lovely things that happen in that. Or don't.

Okay, cool. So you would have heard. Oh, Trevor, it's been a long week already.

No, I'm pulling it together. This is a serious piece of journalistic integrity-ridden media. To very serious people.

We do. The Trevors deserve better. They've got discerning tastes.

They do have discerning tastes. The Trevors deserve better. We're very sorry.

How are you? I'm all right. Good. I'm, yeah, a little bit silly energy, a little bit manic.

I've been trying to sort out my sleep schedule, my sleep hygiene. Right. And it's just meant that I've gone from kind of feeling just a bit tired and a bit like, oh, I just don't think I'm sleeping right.

To forcing myself to stay up really late and get up really early so that I was knackered. Right. To then having a fabulous night's sleep, which I do, I know is a privilege.

I get it. I can see you looking at me like you want me to die. It's fine, it's fine, it's fine.

But yeah, to having a glorious night's sleep to waking up this morning thinking, you want it, you got it. Like I can do anything. I've never typed this fast in my life.

Yeah, like all of that. I have the energy, the frenetic, mad energy of 12 Hannahs. I do love it though, because it was when you messaged me this morning and was just like, Rachel, I can fix anything, anything you want me to fix, I will fix.

And it was just, yeah. And then it was like, I've got the energy of a thousand suns. But then I do really enjoy my hashtag women in STEM, which was to fix it, I emailed editor and husband.

Well, I can't do this. Do you have any ideas? To be fair, what absolutely tickled me was the fact that you'd set up a new WhatsApp group that you called sinister and beyond, which I mean, is brilliant. It should have been too sinister and beyond.

Oh, well, maybe that can be a pledge now. We'll do that. But yeah, you created this group that you added just me, my husband and you two.

And then you went, I think we should have a WhatsApp group for editing the podcast. And then like, dot, dot, dot. This is absolutely nothing to do with editing the podcast.

But I have a question. And it was just like, oh, OK, great. So we've got a podcast editing group.

We're not talking about podcast editing. OK, good. This first question, what am I called to do with this podcast? I have just changed the name of it.

And I also have, I can't, I didn't remember what I set the icon to. It's just a picture of Jennifer Cawthorne. I know, I was like, I'm sure there'll be an in joke that I'll figure out at some point.

I think I just liked it. Oh, Zeya. Well, to be fair, your positive energy at the start of the day did completely outweigh my I'm going to turn into a 40 year old woman who is just angry at the world energy.

I'm glad. Because, yeah, I have, I've got a small, small, tiny beef with a very large organization. Oh, dear God.

Ah, yeah. Which one? Who do I need to take on? I'll fix it, mate. I will.

Throw it at me. Well, they're a tiny little company who some might know. I probably shouldn't say their actual name.

I'll call them. Hang on. Let's be clever about it.

Let's think. So it's now Monge. Did somebody say now Monge? I will never, ever crack the code.

I won't crack it. Yeah, so me and now Monge are on, we're absolutely not on speaking terms. Because I, listeners, I had my mother-in-law around for dinner the other night.

And basically, neither me nor Will could be arsed with actually cooking anything. So we ordered a lovely Chinese meal. A succulent Chinese meal.

A succulent Chinese meal. Very succulent. Ah, I see you know your judo well.

Get your hands off my penis. And another thing that is going to make absolutely no sense to anyone without context. Listen, our travellers are very discerning.

Or they're about to have the best, like, five minutes on YouTube that they've ever had. I mean, that is also true. Just search succulent Chinese meal.

Oh, and please let us know what you think once you've seen it, if you haven't seen it before. Yeah, so anyway, I ordered a Chinese meal. And because it was late, and the kids were still up and hadn't eaten, we were like, right, well, we can't go to our usual place, because they take a while for it to cook.

So we'll go somewhere else. And Will is sometimes a little bit naive with these things. And he was like, yeah, I've ordered from this place.

I've never heard of it. I've never ordered from it before. But he was like, right, that's where we're going.

Great. Anyway, we're there half an hour later. And Will walks into the room.

I'm chatting to my mother-in-law. And he goes, is the food not here yet? I was like, no. I was like, oh, well, because it was only like two minutes away last time I checked the tracking.

I was like, oh, well, it's not here. No food arrived. Listeners, absolutely no food.

I'd spent £50 on Chinese food. And none of it arrived. We had to go to the local chicken shop.

I mean, at least it's nice, your local chicken shop. My local chicken shop is good. I mean, to be fair, that is what South London's got going for it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Decent chicken shops. But yeah, so we had to go to the chicken shop.

Anyway, I then email straight away, email Just Eat with the whole like, I want a refund because I've got no food. I got an email this morning from them saying, we're really sorry. We're not going to give you any money as a refund because the delivery driver tried to call you about eight times.

What? Got no response. Yeah. Got no response and then left your food outside your house.

No. So none of that is true. That's a lie.

Here are my receipts. This is my call log that you can see. And what was really sad was the fact that like on the date that it happened, there was not a single phone call.

You will see I have nothing. Honestly, neither ingoing or ingoing, neither inbound or outbound. There was no communication that day.

So I sent the call logs and then I was like, can you send me photos of the fact that it's been delivered? And then I realized, listeners, that I was caught in an automated email loop where they have literally just put me onto the we're really sorry, but there's nothing we can do. It's in line with our policies. And I'm going, well, send me your policies then.

No reply. It's just the same thing. Just got a different name at the end.

Yeah. So I'm now trapped in this infinite loop, but I'm going to take it up with like PayPal and the bank and whatever. And it's fine because they've just stolen my money.

Yeah, yeah. It's the principle of the matter. There was no food delivered.

Like if you can take a photo and show me that you did leave it outside my house and then some chance has come along and taken it. Fine. Like fair play.

Exactly. We knew what we signed up for. I was not quick enough.

Therefore, it is no longer mine. It's fine. Finders keepers.

But the fact that like you did not deliver. I was sitting in my front room. I would have been able to see I've got a ring doorbell.

I've got just you just didn't do it anyway. So I'm going to take it up with the bank and get the money back. But the lie is worse than the actual action.

But I'm also just going to continuously reply to the robot. Hell yeah. Until the end of time, if I have to.

Good. Because we'll do it in shifts when you go on holiday. I'll have a go.

That is. See, and that is the level of dedication and friendship that you just better hope I had had a good night's sleep. Because if we were the same mood we were in on Monday.

Oh, I will side with them. I will work with now munch. Bring about your downfall.

Oh, good Lord. But yeah. Yeah.

So there's there's that. But surely there must be like a validation system internally. Like, otherwise, could I just set up a fake restaurant and just list myself? Apparently so.

And then just take orders and be like, yeah, I did. Apparently so. I don't know.

It's all very bizarre. But yeah. So, yeah.

Anyway, I'm really sorry that happened to me, though. I know I was making light, but it's just annoying. Yeah, especially when it's like the kids need to go to bed anyway.

First world problems and all that. But yes, so me and shitty things. Yeah.

Me and now munch are definitely not friends. Oh, dear. I tell you what, though.

After last week's episode. Yes. We promised a case that didn't have any death in it.

We did. And I've stayed true to the promise for this week. But before we get into it, I was going to say you've had a little bit of feedback about the story that you started.

It's my feedback now, is it? No, about the story at the beginning. So the amount of people who commented. I thought you were talking about something else.

Oh, no, no, no, no. We'll save that for Patreon. You don't think I should call people out by name and then swear about them? I mean, I think you definitely should.

But I feel like we might get into some trouble. She will never let me fight you, Trevor. Because they're not Trevor's that you're fighting.

Remember that. Fine. Why his words of Rachel? Oh, yeah.

Apparently I've caused uproar in the community with how many people think it's weird that Richard and I have each other on Find My iPhone. Yeah, yeah. And what I think what's completely unsurprising and just hilarious is guess who's got the problems with it? All men.

Oh, it's a... All men. It's a violation of my privacy for when I'm doing all the wrong things. Why has your bird got a tracker on you? Have you met him? That should be reason enough.

He makes friends with taxi drivers. He asked them how big their feet are. He did it the other night.

Out of context, I know to make me laugh. But we got in a cab and the first thing he said, all right, mate, how big your feet? What? Shut up. All men.

Oh, I love it so much. Yeah, that's why I've got a tracker on him. Because I would lose him otherwise.

He can't be trusted. And I don't mean that in like a romantic, I'd lose him. I'd literally, he'd get lost.

It'd be like Paddington Bear, he'd just be sat on a train station somewhere going, somebody help me, take me home. Yeah, the amount of times that phones have been, or like he's left it somewhere and I've seen it. So I've picked it up and we've been 10 minutes down the road.

And he's gone, oh, my phone. I'm like, yeah, I've got it. Here you go.

He is the sort of person I feel like who would do that. I mean, to be fair, I can say nothing about what I'm just about to say, because I definitely would do it. But you know, with those doing those silly videos, where it's like you take a photo of someone's phone and then send it to them saying you left this at home.

And then they're replying on their phone going, oh, my God, like, where was it? It's like, I've done it. I did it at university where I was calling my mum getting ready for work. Absolutely panicking because I couldn't find my phone.

I've got to get to work, mum. I can't find it. And the worst thing was my mum's on the other end of the phone.

Took her fucking forever to realise too. It's like after about 10 minutes of me pulling apart my university bedroom, she was like, hang on, Rach, what are you calling me from? Oh, yeah. Oh, dear.

But yeah, I think there might be some interesting conversations between husbands and wives going on. Listen, I've never hidden it. I've never said it's not a tracker.

It's find my iPhone. We've got each other. I also have my gran and my mum.

I did have my brother and my sister, but then they clocked on and they didn't want to be followed. And I call it Sims. Yeah.

And I have a great time. Where's she going? Into SIGCHI. No, I mean, it's definitely one of those.

Like it is a game. It's a bit like when I used to say that Tinder was a game. It's my favourite game.

I have never, I've been very privileged in the fact that I met my husband and married him like before apps were a thing. So I never got the joy of them. So whenever I am with someone who has it, I am always like, can I play Tinder? And it's not because I'm looking for something.

I just like the idea of swiping. Just going to swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe. And only one person has allowed me to do it so far in my life.

And I think the only reason that that one person allowed me to do it was because they were very drunk. And then they saw all the matches that I got them and I was never allowed to do it again. Was it me? Was it me? I wasn't sure until you said drunk.

And then I was like, yeah, that's me. That was me. It was you.

Didn't you match with Richard? I don't think so. Because that was COVID. Someone did.

Yeah. Oh, was it in COVID? Maybe it was my sister. I think someone was playing.

Yeah. No, I've played on Tinder. Not that I wouldn't have swiped for you.

No, no, no, no. I messaged him first. There we go.

And all of that. But no, I've never played on any of the other ones. It's only ever been Tinder.

But I do remember, I think it was we were out of hub, very drunk. And I was like, let me play. And I think the next morning, the message I got from you was something along the lines of, who the fuck do you think I am? And what the fuck are these matches? And I love the ambiguity of that.

I'm not saying that they're beneath me or above me. Who the fuck do you think I am? These are not proportionate to my personality or looks. It's my favourite game is Tinder.

Oh, dear me. Right. Shall I tell you a story? I think you better before I start doing more mad crap.

Anything else happens. Like my computer deciding it's not going to turn on one moment. But you promised me after all of that.

Yeah. Like you said. Did you already say this? I don't know.

It's a story with no death. It is a story with no death. But it's not victimless.

It's not victim. Well, is it? I don't know. We'll see.

Do now moms really get it? No, but it is definitely more of a, you know how I wanted a heist at Christmas? Oh, yeah. I didn't get it at Christmas. No, I've got it now.

Oh, she's got a heist. I've got my heist guys. So today I'm going to talk about the Millennium Dome Diamond Heist.

I get a heist. All of the sources will be in the show notes. But if you feel so inclined, there is also a typical style Ross Kemp ITV documentary that's on it.

And it is worth a good watch. I love Ross Kemp. He's fun.

November the 7th, 2000. It's a crisp autumn morning in Greenwich, London. The Millennium Dome is bustling with visitors.

Inside, people marvel at the priceless De Beers Diamond Exhibition, home to the legendary Millennium Star Diamond, a flawless 203 carat gem worth more than £100 million. But outside, a seven ton JCB digger rumbles towards the dome, its bucket arm raised like a battering ram. Behind it, a gang of criminals armed with an industrial nail gun, sledgehammer and smoke grenades, ready to pull off one of the most audacious heists in British history.

But this was no ordinary robbery. For months, police had been watching, waiting and planning their own operation, known as Operation Magician. Okay, we're going to skip over it before I get into... Fine.

Anyway, police operation names are just fucking mental. Anyway, with over 200 officers poised for action, including undercover operatives inside the dome itself, the stage was set for an explosive confrontation. This is the story of how a group of old school crooks with all the theatrics and bravado of a Hollywood film took on one of the most high profile targets in the world and lost.

Right, the Millennium Dome, what was it? For those of you who are not from South London, you might be thinking, what the hell are they on about? So as the year 2000 approached, London decided... Basically, people... London lost its shit and was like, build shit now! It went fucking mental. And it unveiled one of its most ambitious and controversial projects ever. Nestled in Greenwich, the Millennium Dome was designed to celebrate the year 2000 and Britain's entry into a new century.

It was essentially a futuristic white canopy spanning over 100,000 square metres, supported by 12 yellow masts symbolising the months of the year and the hours of a clock. I'm looking at Hannah meaningfully because she knows how clocks work. Inside... I can tell the time.

I know. Inside, there were 14 theme zones which showcased everything from science and technology to the human body and money. And it drew over 6.5 million visitors in its one year lifespan.

That's correct. It was open as the Millennium Dome for one year. Did you go? I did.

Yeah. I did. Me too.

It was mental. It was mad. It was awesome.

It was mad, yeah. I don't know if I've got those tinted glasses about the past. Oh, probably.

But yeah, the body was cool. The body was amazing. And for those of you who don't know, just Google it.

But it was like essentially this ginormous human body that you got to walk through to see how everything in... I think, weren't you like, you're meant to be a red blood cell or something? Something. And you kind of go through different parts. Yeah, something like that.

And then in the bit that's now the arena, they had like the big acrobatic show and stuff. Oh, God, yeah. It was a bit Cirque du Soleil, but without the finesse.

Without any discernible skill or talent. Exactly. But yeah, it was fun.

It was only open for a year, which seems mad. And I know it was. But I also feel like it was there for a lot longer before it became the O2.

Yeah. 6.5 million visitors in its one year lifespan. It was a statement of optimism, according to its architects and designers.

But it was heavily debated at the time due to its 789 million pound price tag. And nobody knowing what it was going to be used for after the year 2000. Oh, that is insane.

I mean, it's just typical British. I know. I know what we'll have.

We've got a big tent. A big party. Do you want a massive marquee? Do you know what Britain's like? Camping.

And the body. Oh, God. And diamonds.

The dome is now known as the O2 and it houses a large live event arena. And it has shopping and restaurants and bars that circle the outside of it. So like the big bit that was where they did the Cirque du Soleil without any talent, that is now the venue.

And then everything else around it is like, there's loads of stuff. It's not just random stuff. There's so many random things.

Like the harvester. I don't know any other harvester. Oh, no, there is one in Sidcup.

Isn't there? Yeah, the harvester. And like, the more you walk, you're like, I thought it. I didn't think anything happened this end.

Yeah, exactly. I thought this was like backstage or whatever. What's around here? Oh, a Wetherspoons.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's mad.

Fine. Not a single shop. No.

As in like newsagents. No, no, no, no, no. You cannot buy anything that is not sold by the pint in there.

So for all its critics, the Dome's crown jewel was the De Beers Diamond Exhibition, a dazzling display of wealth. And at its heart was the Millennium Star. As I say, this was a 203 carat flawless diamond cut into a perfect pear shape worth over 100 million pounds.

Hope you're listening, Richard. That ring, that ring. Discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the early 1990s, the diamond was a symbol of rarity and precision, and it had actually taken three years of meticulous cutting to achieve its brilliance.

And accompanying it were 11 rare blue diamonds, which made the collection one of the most valuable ever assembled, with an estimated worth of 350 million pounds. Jesus. For some, however, the Dome wasn't just a symbol of modern Britain.

It was an opportunity for life altering wealth. The Millennium Star and its companions were the kind most criminals could only dream of. A successful heist would make them rich beyond imagination, granting them wealth, notoriety and a place in history.

But this couldn't just be a smash and grab. It needed master planning months in the making. And this is where we get into our story.

So, the ambition of the gang who did this was staggering. Like, I cannot stress enough how, like, when we joke about, like, me and you on a hunt to find where people get the audacity. Like, genuinely, the amount of cockiness, arrogance and audacity.

It's like me this morning. Yeah, that's the energy. That is the energy that they were bringing.

So, if this gang, who we'll get into in a minute, if they had been successful, they would essentially, if they'd gotten the Millennium Star diamond and even, like, one or two of these other rare ones, they would have been taking a loot that was worth more than the combined value of 12 great train robberies. Whoa. Like, this is not a small thing.

I also love it whenever anyone does, I get the same with people who steal art and stuff. I'm like, what are you going to do with it? How are you going to sell that? Look at it. Like, it's just like, oh, I look like I could be rich.

It's amazing and pretty. Well, how are you going to part? I mean, I'm sure there are lots of underground channels and whatever, but it just seems baffling. It's just like, oh, I'm going to go and steal a Picasso.

I wonder what they're going to do. It gives, I always kind of think, it gives an air of like, there's kind of film level baddies where it's like, we'll sell it to Megamind. Yeah, exactly.

Do you know who wants that? And I know that there were bound to be like some dodgy, well, some dodgy heads of state and leaders somewhere. Really rich. Some of them.

She's awake. Who would probably get it. But I just, yeah, I just find it bizarre.

It's like, I'm going to steal this thing that's really well known. And then like, what? I've just got it now. That's cool.

Anyway. So the De Beers exhibition was nestled within the money zone within the dome, which also showed visitors a million pounds in cash. I remember that.

That were sealed behind plexiglass on the floor and all over the walls and the ceiling. And due to this, the dome, like the zone had stupid amounts of defences and they were designed to safeguard what was arguably the most valuable temporary collection ever displayed. At the heart of the security lay the armoured glass that encased the Millennium Star and its companion diamonds.

So this glass was engineered to withstand sustained attacks, capable of holding up against even the most aggressive hammer blows for up to 30 minutes. Which is mad. It is giving me vibes of talking about slag again, but I'm not going to.

So we'll move quickly on. Surrounding the display was also an extensive network of CCTV cameras, which were constantly monitored by security teams, both at the dome, but then also by De Beers own specialists, like their specialists, wherever they were based. And every single angle of this part of the dome was uncovered.

There was absolutely no blind spots. Well, you really would, wouldn't you? I feel like it would have to be. But what it's meant is that when all this happened, there is so much footage of it happening.

It is amazing. And there is a part of me that like, because again, we'll get into it, but because this case doesn't have any. No one gets hurt.

Yeah. Spoilers. No one gets hurt.

But it can be funny. You are kind of rooting for them as well. You're a bit like, oh, come on, mate.

If you can pull this off. If you could do it, like, well done. It's amazing.

And so according to this, as well as all the cameras and everything, they also had a load of state of the art alarms. The cases were equipped with sensors that were designed to detect any sort of tampering, which would trigger immediate alerts if even the slightest movement was detected. And these alarms were linked to an advanced central system that ensured that any breach attempt would mobilize a rapid response.

The walls of the vault itself, which is so the vault was inside the money zone and the diamonds were inside the vault. Yeah. The vault itself was made with reinforced concrete and on the ground security guards patrolled the exhibition internally, like constantly, and outside the dome was surrounded by a high security perimeter fence with cameras and the rest of it.

Now we're going to get into who these people are. I'm ready. Yeah.

Okay. So the players behind the Millennium Dome heist was a gang of seasoned criminals, each bringing their own skills, bravado and quirks to the operation. This was not a ragtag group of amateurs, but professional career criminals with extensive histories of theft, burglary and conspiracy.

So you said we're going to sell it to Megamind. We're going to start with a man named Raymond Bettson, a.k.a. The Mastermind. Ah.

A career criminal since his teens, Bettson was the leader of the gang. At 39, he earned a reputation as a calculating operator known for his connections in organised crime and his appetite for high stakes robberies. Despite his criminal expertise, Bettson carried a streak of arrogance that often betrayed him.

He reportedly claimed to have made £15 million through theft and drug deals during his career. For the Millennium Dome heist, Bettson was the architect, crafting the overall strategy and coordinating the gang's activities. He was said to be calm, ruthless and meticulous, at least on the surface.

But his confidence was shaken by the gang's previous bungled attempts, which I'll get onto in a minute, which forced him to gamble everything on this one final job. Oh, no. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Especially not when you've got a JCB and a fuck ton of security cameras. Then we've got William Cochran, who was the veteran. At 47, Cochran was the eldest statesman of the crew.

So he had decades of experience in what were known as smash and grab operations. So they were essentially, well, I'll get into them in a minute. He was Bettson's right hand man.

He was unflinchingly loyal and proper dedicated to what they were doing. I think he's the one who kind of got the biggest thrill out of it, if I'm honest. He was known for being really methodical when it came to things like reconnaissance.

And he would spend hours casing out the targets. So he was at the dome so often. And he was memorizing things like the security routines.

He knew where all of the entrance and exit points were. He knew where all the cameras were. Like, it was fucking mad.

He was thorough. And he studied the entire layout of the vault to understand where they would go in, where they would come out, all of it. So he was the man who was going to make it happen.

If anyone was going to do it, it would be him. Then we have Terry Millman, aka The Rogue. He is, well, I'm just going to read this.

So it says, the flamboyant wild card of the gang. Oh, God. 55 year old Millman was an old school South London gangster.

But not the veteran? No, not the veteran. The veteran is 47. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But it's because he's got a much longer history of these sorts of things. That's why he's the veteran. The Rogue is, you know.

He is an old school South London gangster with a knack for theatrics. His criminal history included a 14 year sentence for armed robbery. But his charm and wit made him, like, everyone liked him.

Everyone just loved him. They just thought he's brilliant, which is really funny. Yeah, he's an armed robber, but he can tell a yarn.

He can really spin a yarn. He used to do things as well, like produce counterfeit tax discs for cars, when we still had those. But like, his big thing that he was known for within this gang was kind of like logistics and making sure that everything was going to be where it should be.

And also improvisation, which to me, I just think, is he standing somewhere in a big feathered hat going, Oh, do not look over there where this thing is happening. Instead, look at me, the Rogue, with my theatrics. Gather round, I'll tell you a yarn.

So yeah, there is one. Like, I go on to some of the stuff that they do before the Dome in a minute, but I had to bring this in here. So there's one incident that happened.

Millman was known as the Rogue. He was also said to be quite reckless and was a bit of a, I just see him as, you know, in It's Always Sunny, when Charlie Day is like, wow, I can just see that's him, right? In August of 2000, so a few months before the Dome, he drunkenly crashed a stolen car into a pub in Horsmunden in Kent. The car had counterfeit tax discs that he created, and they matched those used in something called the Aylesford Raid, which I'll talk to you about in a minute, which tied him directly to the gang.

And yeah, he basically like, they were going to kick him out. They were like, we can't, Terry, what are you doing? Like, bye now. Wild card.

Wild card, baby. But apparently, like, he basically just like, talks his way back into the gang and they were like, yeah, all right. And then he was also the person who purchased a high-powered speedboat, which you will understand more of in a minute.

But he used an alias to buy this boat. Oh God, is it James Bond? No, it was Mr. T. Diamond. Mr. T. Diamond.

To buy a speedboat that was going to be used in a diamond heist. Fucking love it. Oh dear.

Then we have Lee Wenham, who was known as The Farmer. At 32, he was the person who basically supplied a safe haven for his, he had a big family home in Kent, and that's where they kind of stored a lot of the things. So the speedboat that Mr. T. Diamond bought lived on the farm until it was needed.

And yet he had a load of different connections around Kent. And he basically had loads of little places to squirrel things away. I'm picturing him as like the aristocratic one.

Yeah, well, I mean, you'll see the photos. But yeah, but his thing was basically that he had like, he was able to keep them protected up until the point when this was all going down. He was only really connected to the heist during a, when he was spotted at the dome beforehand.

So surveillance captured him spending six minutes inside the dome. Bearing in mind the queue to get into that thing. He spent six minutes inside the dome.

He only went to the money zone. And then like spent ages just outside looking at one security fence. And then went on his way.

Not conspicuous in the slightest. And then we have Daniel Rees, who was known as the Brain. He was a another one who kind of was working alongside not William Cochran, Raymond Bettson, thinking like about the strategy and how they were going to do it.

So he had a background in fraud and technical crimes, and was kind of responsible for like, making sure that all the puzzle pieces fit together so that the things would happen in the right order. And then we have Aldo Sciossari, aka The Muscle. And he had a history of, again, smashing grabs, which is essentially where they just drive something heavy into a shop or a building and steal everything.

Yeah, exactly. But he was seen as the enforcer, and was kind of like the person that they were assuming was going to be the one who actually stole the diamonds. Kevin Meredith was the driver.

So he was the speedboat operator. And he was a very skilled waterman. And yeah, like their plans were to escape by boat.

Yeah, again, I'll tell you about it in a minute. And then the last person we've got on this long list of this merry band is Robert Adams, who was the vault man. And he was 56.

And he was a late addition to the crew. He actually ended up being inside the vault with William Cockram. And he doesn't necessarily have a history of criminal activity.

So he's kind of a bit of a misnomer, just there, kind of goes, oh, can I play? That would be me. Oh, your friends seem really cool and fun. And then you look around like, mine and vault.

How did we end up here? Yeah, so that's our group of people. So as you can tell, we've got, I'm sorry, Terry Millman is just forever my favourite. He's just, I'm going to smash a car into a pub that I've stolen.

It's got fake tax discs. It's just amazing. Anyway, so the Millennium Dome heist wasn't the gang's first attempt at a high stakes robbery.

In the months leading up to the fateful day in November, they'd made several, I'd say bold attempts, but they were all unsuccessful to seize massive hauls of cash. So, yeah, we'll start with the first one. So Nine Elms, we're going back to February 2000.

And the first major operation that has been linked to this gang was in Nine Elms, it's near Battersea. And it was targeting an armoured van, which carried 10 million pounds in cash. Their plan was, again, like where they get the audacity, I've no idea, but it was fucking chaotic.

So they used a blue Ford Transit van to block the front of Nine Elms Lane in Battersea. Okay. And then they used an articulated lorry at the back of the lane so that like you couldn't get through.

So the armoured vans in this lane, suddenly it's got no escape. Another lorry was equipped with a crude yet formidable steel spike. And when I say this is like something out of like, it's something Dr. Evil would create.

I'm not even kidding you. Freaking sharks with freaking laser beams on their freaking heads. Honestly, it is exactly what it sounds like.

It is a van that has a massive concrete spike that they hid underneath Christmas trees. I love it. And so, yeah, this was on the back of the van.

And the whole point of this was it was going to ram the armoured van's doors so that they could then get away with all the money. So they managed to like do that. They managed to get to the van.

They managed to use the spike to break it open. And they had a getaway van. They got to the getaway van, not realising that they're in South London.

So the keys to the getaway van that they'd left with the van had been stolen. It's so spiked from only four centimetres. Honestly, it is.

So they've got, they've managed to get into this van or like damage this van in some. And then they're like about to make their getaway and they can't because someone's lost the fucking keys. So they then were like, they just basically went, oh, fuck it then and dropped everything.

They abandoned the heist. They abandoned the van, but to cover their tracks, they set off a series of small explosions in order to kind of like hide. And then they ran to the Thames and got in a speedboat.

Yeah. So this is the first one. Okay, I love it.

Then we move into Kent. Now we're in Aylesford in July. So I hinted at this earlier.

So July 2000, five months after the foiled Nine Elms job, the gang struck again, this time near Aylesford in Kent. Their target was another armoured van, this time carrying nine million pounds. I think they thought, right, let's go.

We did ten, didn't quite get away. We'll go for eight if this doesn't work. So the setup mirrored Nine Elms in every way.

So it was a well-timed ambush involving a spike-mounted lorry. But this time, they had homemade explosive devices, and I am doing bunny ears, attached to the van to intimidate the drivers. So essentially, they made it look as if the van, the van that they were driving was going to blow up.

They weren't. These devices turned out to be nothing more, and I kid you the fuck not, turned out to be nothing more than tins of fray bentos, steak and kidney pie. I mean, listen, I know I'm laughing my head off at this.

The poor drivers that are just trying to transport money around, like, I know someone that does that. They're just doing their job. As a job.

Like, it is terrifying. And like, yeah, I'm not making light of the trauma that they will have suffered. But as plans go, fray bentos, steak and kidney pies, that were painted and fitted with flashing LED lights, to make them look like explosive devices.

Because they've got the Christmas trees, I am picturing fairy lights. I don't blame you. Anyway, so despite their increased efforts, the heist again descended into chaos.

But this time, police officers arrived at the scene mid-robbery. Oh, for fuck's sake. So there was then a frantic exchange of gunfire.

Nobody was hurt. The gang fled empty-handed again. Once again, retreating to a speedboat on the River Medway.

And while they managed to escape, they left behind a bucket load of evidence this time, including, and this feels very weird, gloves that contained saliva. I've spat in my gloves. I've no idea what that's about.

They're very tight. Some bullets and stolen vehicles with counterfeit tactics. Oh, for fuck's sake.

Give me links back to Mr. Millman. One clue in particular caught the police's attention. And the word, okay, so the words, Girty MK2, persistent, aren't we? Was painted on the lorry mounted spike.

Um, yeah. So at this point, apparently, this is the only part in the story where the police think, oh, this might be similar to the 9 Elms job. Um, yeah.

So they, um, yeah, it was all absolutely mad. So when the police are then investigating this second botched attempt, they actually found surveillance footage that revealed the spike laden lorry, leaving Tong Farm, a property that had been linked to Lee Wenham on the morning of the Ellsford raid. And so with this in mind, even though they had no evidence about the people involved at that point in time, they began to keep a very close eye on the farm.

So Tong Farm, Tong Farm was owned by Wenham's family and it was the hub of the gang's sort of preparations. They were under extensive surveillance by the police. And this surveillance kind of saw, not only did they have this van with the bloody spike in it.

Yeah. They also saw that there were loads of stolen vehicles going in and out. There was a speedboat that was moved in and out.

Fuck's sake. And there were loads of people who were coming and going at really odd hours. And it was all just a bit mad.

But they thought that they were safe because they were in Kent and it was rural. So they wouldn't then go, oh, they're going to hit London. Or apparently.

They, the police, as well as having like people, like actual police officers surveilling, they also had covert cameras placed around the property. And they were able to catch. I'm sorry.

Yeah. Covert. Sorry, covert.

Covert cameras were placed. So covert. I couldn't even say that.

Covert cameras were placed around the property and they, this is how they know about the spiked lorry and the speedboat. And while Tong Farm became the gang's operational base, their target of the dome required its own set of surveillance. So we've already mentioned that a few people have gone and done surveillance on the dome.

But Wenham, Betsam and Cockram made multiple trips there under the guise of being tourists. So they studied the layout of the money zone, the movements of the guards, the timings of security patrols. And on one occasion, as we said earlier, one of them spent just six minutes inside.

Undercover officers who were stationed at the dome began tailing the gang. And there is again in the Ross Kemp documentary, there is footage of like, it's very clearly these two gang members. They're just being followed by this bloke.

It's just like, oh, there they are. There they are again. There they are again.

And they were then feeding this intelligence back to the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad. Right. Now the Flying Squad are a very well known, very almost famous, well they are famous, part of the Met Police.

And they are primarily responsible for armed robberies, I believe, and stuff like that. Stuff like that. And what I found quite funny was Ross Kemp mentioned about 85 times in the documentary that his dad was a member of the Flying Squad.

Just so if anyone didn't know. Yeah, so the Flying Squad are brought in after these two botched ones. And when they start to notice that there are odds happenings at the dome.

By late summer 2000, the police had gathered enough evidence to confirm the gang's plans. The failed Nine Elms and Aylesford heists had left a breadcrumb trail of clues that pointed to the dome as the next target. I'll try that again.

By late summer 2000, the police had gathered enough evidence to confirm the gang's plans. The failed Nine Elms and Aylesford heists had left a breadcrumb trail of clues as well as loads of mistakes and forensic evidence. But it pointed to the fact that the dome was going to be the next target.

The Met Police launched Operation Magician, a covert and highly coordinated sting operation designed to stop the gang in their tracks. The real diamonds were replaced with replicas and over 200 officers were deployed to basically catch them in the act. Undercover operatives infiltrated the dome as staff and visitors, while armed units from SO19, which is an arm of the Flying Squad, positioned themselves in a concealed service tunnel under the dome.

And this is quite cool. So under the dome, the way that it works with the vault was that there was a, because it was kind of like under the dome for extra protection, there were service entrances in and out around the edge of it. And basically, because they didn't want any of the staff, because they weren't sure that there wasn't an inside person at the dome as well, they didn't want any of the staff to suddenly see a load of armed police just like hanging out in the corridor.

So they built a fake room in the service corridor, like it made it look like it was like a hazardous chemicals cupboard or whatever. And it was like, it had like a small room at the front and then a bigger room at the back where all these police officers were just hanging out. But it was so that they wouldn't be spotted by people.

Very Jonathan Craig. I know, it's amazing. So yes, they were, they were all kind of hiding.

And surveillance was then intensified at Tong Farm and along the Thames where the gang's speedboat was stationed. So every detail of the gang's plan was countered with precision. The police didn't just want to stop the heist.

They wanted to catch the gang red handed, because this would then ensure that there would be no escape, no second chances. And like, I think it's, it was difficult. They were saying something about the fact that it was like difficult to necessarily, that you can prove conspiracy, but if you're not catching them in the act, yeah, it's harder to get convictions and all this stuff.

So, but this gang who, again, like this ragtag group of absolute bonkers men are like very happily going about their business, thinking that they've got this absolutely perfect plan. But the entire thing is known about by the police who are literally just sitting there. It's like something out of the Pink Panther.

I love it. I love it so much. Just ridiculous.

So the morning of November the 7th, 2000 began as any other at the Millennium Dome. Visitors wandered through its exhibits, marvelling at the cultural and scientific achievements on display, unaware that outside a seven ton JCB digger was rumbling towards the dome with a gang of hardened criminals on board. There is footage of the JCB coming off of the exit at North Greenwich and trundling along, trundling along the road.

The gang's plan was bold, loud and unmistakably theatrical. They weren't slipping in unnoticed. They were going to smash their way in.

Like all of this prep, all of this stuff and their plan like, oh, the mastermind. The plan they came up with didn't have someone called the brain in the gang. And the plan that, fucking drive JCB into it.

A stolen JCB as well. Shortly after 8.30 in the morning, the modified JCB arrived at the dome's perimeter fence. With its massive arm raised, the digger barreled through the high security fencing, flattening it effortlessly.

Onlookers might have mistaken the commotion for a construction mishap, but the gang, they did not let it know. No, no, no. They wanted people to know what they were doing.

They drove straight for the dome's steel delivery doors and smashed through it with, like, it was, it was mad. And again, in the documentary, there's a story of a woman who was part of, she wasn't SO19, but she's part of the Met undercover in the dome. She and someone else had been looking out of the door, like, 30 seconds before this JCB comes flying through these doors.

Inside the cab were four gang members and they were clad in gas masks and armed with a massive nail gun, essentially. They jumped out of the vehicle and sprang into action. Once inside the money zone, the gang wasted no time.

They deployed smoke grenades and they filled the air with thick, acrid clouds to confuse and disorient anybody who was nearby. To heighten the chaos, they released ammonia, which created an unbearable stench that forced bystanders to scatter. Their target lay behind armoured glass encasing the Millennium Star and the 11 other rare diamonds.

The gang had prepared for this challenge, bringing a hilty DX450 nail gun, which is a construction tool capable of firing steel nails in building sites. One member fired the nail gun repeatedly at the glass, creating fractures and weakening structure, while another wielded a sledgehammer, delivering blow after blow with brute force. The vault's glass, which was designed to withstand attacks for up to 30 minutes, began to give way.

Oh my God. Within like five minutes. Oh dear.

Cockram and Adams, who were the two gang members inside the vault, worked feverishly away in there and they were, like police reckon, that they were like moments away from actually having gotten through the glass. What the gang didn't know was that they were already surrounded. And just 50 metres away, concealed in the service tunnel, over 30 armed officers from SO19 waited patiently for the signal to strike.

Undercover officers disguised as cleaners and dome staff had been positioned throughout the money zone and they watched silently and allowed the gang to breach the perimeter and begin their assault on the vault. Because again, they wanted it red handed. The police knew they had to wait.

Acting too soon could jeopardise the safety of visitors, while waiting too long could allow the gang to reach their prize. The moment the glass began to splinter, the command was given and police sprang into action. They poured out of the service tunnel and stormed towards the gang.

Smoke and chaos filled the money zone. The gang members outside just immediately gave up. Just immediately, hands up.

Inside the vault, Cockram and Adams were caught red handed. Their tools were still in their hand. They were tackled to the ground.

Outside, the gang's leader, Raymond Betson, attempted to feign innocence, raising his hands and claiming he was uninvolved and that he'd just been pulled into it. The police didn't believe him and arrested him. Meanwhile, out on the Thames, the gang's carefully prepared escape plan completely fell apart.

Armed officers intercepted their speedboat as it approached the dome's private dock. Kevin Meredith, the driver, surrendered without any resistance. And on the north side of the Thames, Terry Millman was posing as a road engineer to monitor radio frequencies, but he was captured as well.

So this whole thing that supposedly has taken months and months and months of planning is over in about two minutes. It's very like, we would have got away with it too if it wasn't for those dastardly police officers and my shit plan. It is genuinely like something from Scooby-Doo.

It really is. For the police, it was a flawless operation. Yeah, absolute bone.

No shots were fired. No injuries occurred. The priceless diamonds remained untouched because they were fake because they weren't there.

And as the gang members were led away in handcuffs, the dome returned to its usual buzz of visitors, most of whom were blissfully unaware of the drama that had happened. The heist was meant to make the gang rich beyond their wildest dreams, but it had ended in crushing defeat. For the Flying Squad and SO19, it was a triumph of modern policing.

But for the gang, it was the end of the road. Yes. The trial at the Old Bailey, it got a lot of attention.

Yeah, I can imagine. Mainly because there's like, a lot of it, because the police let it happen to some extent. And it was just the, again, just where do they get the audacity? The JCB digger was just left in the dome for a bit.

Just there. I mean, I'd have gone and seen it. I know.

But yeah, so like everyone, when this happened, it was mental. And everyone was kind of like, again, I think there was a little bit of a, you kind of wanted them to do it. Yeah.

I don't know. I know what you mean. There's a bit of like.

Rooting for the hapless. Yeah. Hapless idiots.

Like, mate, if you'd managed it, like this is not some Slick Ocean's Eleven style. No, no, no. Like there's no George Clooney at the helm.

There's no Brad Pitt being swat. This is just, we're going to go and rob a diamond. What's the plan? Are we going to go tunnel under? Are we going to just drive a JCB into it? I think that'll do.

I've got a nail gun. Foreman lets me use it at work. Oh dear.

So the prosecutors at the trial presented damning evidence from surveillance footage and the reconnaissance trips to the forensic links that tied the gang to the Aylesford and Nine Elms heists. The gang's defence rested on claims of there being an inside man at the dome and the existence of a mysterious Mr. Big orchestrating the operation from behind the scenes. But how's that a defence for them? Well, they were just, they were brought into it.

They weren't the masterminds. They were just doing as they were told. We were scared.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This mysterious man who doesn't exist. Both arguments were quickly dismissed.

And yeah, it ended up, they argued and I quote, the gang's brazen tactics and previous bungled attempts painted a picture of a group driven by desperation rather than guided by a criminal mastermind. So the sentences, Raymond Bettson and William Cochran both received 15 years each, which was actually reduced from 18 years on appeal. Robert Adams and Aldo Ciorciarci Ciorciarci, yeah, Aldo were also sentenced to 15 years.

Lee Wenham, who was the one who owned the farms in Kent, he was sentenced to nine years for his involvement in the dome heist and the earlier Aylesford raid. But they had nothing to link him to Nine Elms as well. And then Kevin Meredith, the speedboat driver, received a five year sentence for his role in the in the thing.

Tragically, Terry Millman passed away from cancer in 2001, meaning that he avoided trial. So he had nothing, he wasn't prosecuted. There is so much about this that has captured the public's imagination, as I say.

There is, there's so much around like media coverage that kind of went into absolutely every single detail of it. Like what was there? What was the outcome? What were they planning to do with it? Then even going into like how to make a fray bentos pie look like a bomb. And yeah.

And then also like loads of praise for Operation Magician. Yeah, of course. I mean, it worked.

We don't often praise the Met. No, they did a bloody good job. Yeah.

Um, I mean, I kind of feel like they had it handed to them. Don't think it was made very difficult. No, but impressive nonetheless.

Yeah. So there've been books, documentaries. There's even been a TV drama, which I tried to find and couldn't.

But I'm desperate to find it. Yeah, because I am really hoping that at one point you do just get Del Boy and Rodney as Batman and Robin. Just out of the corner.

That explored this case. And yeah, and as I say, the police have been praised and it's kind of been seen as one of the key moments for the Flying Squad in modern, in modern policing history. So where are they now? Nearly 25 years later, the Millennium Dome heist remains a favourite in sort of like criminal activity in London.

And it's very much seen as being one of the last kind of old school crimes because you've got to think that even though they were foiled by surveillance and all of that sort of stuff, this was the year 2000. There wasn't, you would not get away with this now. No, you wouldn't even have to think about it now.

Absolutely not. And this was kind of like the last. And I think that's part of the reason why.

There's a fondness. Yeah, there's a, there's a, it is a bit old school. It is a bit like last of the old gang.

Like, although I do kind of have to question all of us, me included, in the, like, who did we think they were? Fucking Robin Hood. Wasn't going to be, and then we'll build public services with the diamond money. Like it was, you know, it was men being men at the end of the day.

A thousand percent. They are not, yeah, we're looking at this with like nostalgia and like, oh, they're harmless. No, they're not.

But there is something that's just, yeah, they're a little bit endearing. But yeah, so, so these, this sort of crime would never happen now. And so that's why it's kind of captured the public imagination.

But now all of them are, they've, they've all completed their sentences. So Raymond Bettson, he got out of prison and then swiftly went back into it. So in 2014, he was rearrested for a failed security depot ram raid in Swanley.

Oh, for fuck's sake. And was sentenced to 13 years. It doesn't, I couldn't find anything that said whether or not he'd been released from that 13 years.

So I don't know if he's out and about or not. But yeah, he, he stayed in a life of crime. And this is the other thing to remember as much as like the, you know, that, oh, are they the wily, wily foxes that you kind of want them to, like they are all career criminals.

But he went back inside. William Cockram, after his release, completely disappeared from public view. And no one really knows what he did or where he went.

But this is kind of his moment in the sun. And yeah, it's just kind of like, we don't know if he carried on doing criminal things and just wasn't caught or just went and decided that, you know what, I've had enough now. Robert Adams, he largely avoided the spotlight and kept a really low profile.

And they think that this was quite a deliberate thing. I think he has gone straight and narrow. Lee Wenham, the farms.

Yeah. I don't think they belong to him anymore. I think some of them were seized.

Some of them still belong to him. There's no public indication of his involvement in any further criminal activities. And the same with, like the speedboat driver, Kevin Meredith, Daniel Reese and Aldo, they've all stayed out of the public eye and they've got no significant records of re-offending.

Okay. So it kind of feels like it was, and I think this is the other reason why they say that this was, it was almost like they were going, right, we go big or we go home. Yeah, yeah.

This is the last thing we're going to do. Let's see if we can get away with it. Ah, shit, we didn't.

Oh well. Moving on. So as I was just saying, this was a bit of a relic of a bygone era, basically.

Like there's no way, it feels quite quaint. It feels quite, as we say, almost slapstick. Yeah.

When today, like 2025, the landscape of crime and security have both evolved to such a degree that it's just like, they're not, it's not even improbable anymore. Like it is impossible that this would happen. And you can barely walk into the O2, let alone drive a JCB.

Well, exactly. How many times you go in and they go, you, I'm going to come and scan you. Just wanted to go to Slug and Liz.

Ink bar. So there have been a few things that have come from this that like, I thought were quite interesting to kind of cover off just because, again, to reiterate that whole idea of it's, yeah. So integrated surveillance, modern security systems are now leagues ahead of the Dome's 2000 era CCTV setup.

Well, you should hope so. So high value sites, including the Dome, now use AI-powered surveillance with real-time facial recognition and behavior analysis that flag suspicious activity before it even escalates. For a gang to enter a venue unnoticed is nearly impossible.

Although to be fair, I think that the police did a fairly decent job of figuring out what they were doing even back then. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you also have for like things like the vaults, instead of relying on guards and vaults with physical keys or standard alarms, most of these, if you go and see any of these sorts of diamonds or exhibitions and stuff again now, like they are all linked to biometric systems, retinal scanners, fingerprint recognition and voice authentication.

Tools like nail guns and sledgehammers are not really going to do much with that. Then remote monitoring and alarms. So most of the time, alarms are no longer just triggered on site.

They will instantly alert remote monitoring centers so that there's literally no way you're going to be able to get away with it. Is this like your public safety announcement to the Trevors? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't even bother, Trevor.

I know. I know what you're thinking, JCB. I've got some free bentos pies.

Hang on a minute. Yeah, so I've always wanted to drive a speedboat. There's loads and loads of stuff that now kind of comes into play that means that this wouldn't happen.

And I just thought it was quite, yeah, I just thought it was quite cute. It's not the right word, but there is that. Yeah.

The world has essentially moved on from the cinematic robberies of the past. The rise of cybercrime and the diminishing rewards of physical heists have rendered plans like the Millennium Dome raid almost obsolete. Today, criminals are much more likely to hack into databases than drive a digger through a fence.

And law enforcement is even better equipped than ever to catch them. The Millennium Dome heist wasn't just a failed robbery. It was the end of an era, a swan song for a type of crime that no longer fits in the modern world.

While it remains a thrilling tale of ambition and downfall, it does also point out how far technology, policing and society have come in securing the treasures of our time. Oh, there we go. So the treasures of our time.

Thank you. Yeah, so that's the Millennium Dome Diamond Heist. Well done, mate.

I promised you no death. I promised you no death. And after last week, I think we needed a little bit of light relief.

Yeah, I liked it. Fucking mad. Yeah, just so.

Yeah, it is bonkers. And honestly, I would say go and watch the Ross Kevin documentary because it's fascinating. He will.

He goes into a lot more detail. It's much more around how the police stopped it. And he looks.

That's where you can see them building the little room and all the rest of it. The Jonathan Creek bit. But he also talks to the police who were like like the ones who were on the speedboats.

And they were kind of saying that like at that point in time, they didn't necessarily know whether this was going to be an armed robbery. Right, so they didn't actually know what they were going into. They did to an extent, but not the level of danger.

Exactly. And I think the fact that at the Ellsford raid, there had been gunfire. Yeah.

They weren't necessarily sure what was going to happen at this. And the fact that there was the public around as well. So it was a lot of that.

And it was quite a big risk to not just shut it down. Yeah, exactly. But the police who were on the boat were saying that basically, if there is a shootout on the river, the only way that you can get out of that is a shoot to kill.

Yeah. And I'm kind of like that whole concept of like these police officers. I might kill someone today.

Exactly. Luckily for them, Kevin just went, Oh, I've been caught. All right.

Fair enough. There we go. Fair play.

I'm all good. You got me. And so absolutely no shots were fired whatsoever, which was their biggest fear.

But yeah, it is. There is just something a bit romantic and a bit. Yeah, it is just that like.

They're lovable rogues. Yeah. That kind of ilk, isn't it? It is.

Like, you know, again, I know I've said this before, like watching Only Fools and Horses, but like Del is a prick. Yeah. Like he's not.

He's like a lovely family and all this. Like he loves his family and he's a good man and all this. But he is a criminal.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, but it's forgivable because who's the victim really? And it's that I suppose Del Boy is a bit more Robin Hood in that. Yeah.

You know, yeah. All right. It is all fucking broken.

But selling things on the cheap to people and all of that. But yeah, it is something kind of. I think the word maybe is romantic.

There is something kind of like it's a bygone era. Exactly. And it is.

It is the stuff of of crime thrillers. It is the stuff of stupid. Like if they made a comedy movie of this film, Adam Sandler would be in it.

Like it is. It's just ridiculous. But also there is a part of me that just wishes that they had got away because how cool would that have been? Like there is a part that's like either they got away and they realised the diamonds were fake because that would just be the icing on the cake.

That would have been perfect. Or they got away and like who are they hurting? Some South African diamond millionaires. Like.

Yeah, and like, you know, I don't believe that the Millennium Star is a blood diamond, but there's all of that sort of stuff as well. It comes from the Congo. There's a whole thing with that that we won't get into.

But there is a part of me that it's just I'm starting to do my left arm exercises so that I can carry that around. Nice. On a nice plain gold band, I think.

Keep it simple. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you don't want to go too much.

I would because I was going to say maybe Millennium Star and then a couple of the two like the two blue ones either side. Yeah, nice pair. I'll have a pair of earrings from them.

Oh, yeah. Nice. Nice.

Yeah, yeah. Bring out my eyes. I think they would, mate.

Absolutely brilliant. As far as I know, the Millennium Star is still available. It's still touring.

You were going to say something about Richard. As far as I know, he's got no plans. He's like, don't have to fucking tell me, Rach.

Don't worry about that. No, as far as I know, the Millennium Star is still publicly visible. I can't remember where it said it was, but the last I think it was in Amsterdam the last time it was publicly on display.

But you can still go and see it. It is still there. This is the real one, not the fake one.

They can't take all of us down. Who's got a JCB? I've got a nail gun somewhere. But yeah, so that's the that's the diamond heist for you.

Very well done, darling. Thank you. I needed the levity of that.

I think it's yeah, it's a fun one. I don't know that I'm going to find many other crimes in South London that don't have victims. I was just about to say to you, like, is this a new kind of trope we've got now where I'm I'm coming in with fucking harrowing, like mental health, battering crimes of like just awfulness.

And then you've got some cockney gazers in a speedboat. Basically, the real life version of Wallace and Gromit's The Wrong Trousers. Oh, dear.

So, yeah, as per usual, all the sources will be there. I would say go and watch the Ross Kemp one. If you can stomach Ross Kemp being Ross Kemp, brilliant.

Then then go. I do enjoy Bridge of Lies. His quiz show thing.

Very good on that. Nice. I know I love it.

I love all of his Ross Kemp on Gang. I love all of it. But I know that some people can find him a little bit.

It's not to everyone's taste, but he is very cockney geezer in this. I'm very proud of his dad for being in the Flying Squad. There you go.

So I suppose all that leads us to is all the nice stuff. Yeah. So we've got a website that's been updated.

It has. We've got an Instagram. We do.

I've got to do Floating Head tomorrow. I didn't do it last week because I was out for young Woolham's birthday. OK.

But I'll do Floating Head tomorrow. We've got a lovely email that you can send some nice comments to, Hannah. I would just say public service announcement.

All right. I'm going there now. We've had some really lovely comments from lots of people and beautiful comments.

You know who you are. I also realised that when we had we mentioned this in the Christmas episode, but it got cut because we had a bit of a technical issue where basically the laptop was jumping and cutting out bits of text. But we got a really lovely email on our website from a couple in New Zealand.

And they actually they said that they really enjoy the show and it was all very sweet. I'm now completely blanking on their names, but I will put them in the in the show notes. They also suggested a case for us to do, which is on my list to do in the next couple of weeks.

And we had lovely, you know, and I just wanted to say that like we saw the message and we did talk about it at Christmas time, which is when we first saw it, but it got cut because of the technical difficulties. But we then got another one recently. The.

Listen, I just don't know. Like, OK, listen, we're going there. We're going there.

Listen, Travis. I love that there are a silly amount of people out there who like listening to our ramblings every week. I would have it no other way.

You are the most wonderful humans that have ever existed. And we thank you. For those of you who don't like what you hear, that is a thousand percent fine.

We are not everybody's cup of tea, as Hannah said earlier, and I'd never heard it before. I can't be everyone's cup of tea, otherwise I'd be a mug. There we go.

It's fine if you don't like us and you don't know what we're doing. Absolutely. OK.

Don't email me to tell me that you don't like the free content that we are supplying to you that nobody forced you to listen to. OK, especially not if it's I didn't like it, then I forced myself to listen to another one. Well, you've only got yourself to blame then, haven't you? Oh dear.

We have a formula, babes. We ain't going to change. No, no, no, no, no.

We're too set in our ways. But yeah, so if you want to leave us a nice comment, come and say hi. That would be great.

And we really love to hear it. If you don't like us, absolutely fine. Walk on by.

Ta-ta for now. Enjoy your Saturday. Have fun.

But yeah, so we do have an email address where you can send us nice things. Yes. And we have a TikTok that hasn't been updated and won't be touched because I can't be bothered.

I think that's probably about it, innit? Yeah. It's your turn. You've got another big one next.

I have got another big one next, which has been suggested by a few different people. Yeah, we've had a few people say, oh, have you heard of this person and you're not going to do it? It's like, no, just wait. Wait, guys.

So yeah, that's good. There's been a few of them. I have had people say to me like, oh, you're not doing so-and-so? Yeah.

There's only so many hours in the day, guys. What do you want? A four-hour podcast every other day. We can't do all the cases at once.

You're going to have to be patient. I've kind of, one person in particular has done it to me a couple of times now. Well, you've not done this one and you've not done that one.

I'm like, I've never heard these names before. What are these cases you talk of? Oh, wow. Yeah.

Which actually sounds ungrateful because sometimes people do suggest things we haven't really heard of. Yeah, it's true. And I go, oh, God, yeah, good one.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So hedge your bets and see what mood I'm in. And on that delightful note, Trevors, we love you.

We do. We thank you. We do.

We will see you next week. We will. Cheers, guys.

Bye. Love you. Bye.