Hatton Garden raid has ‘ruined lives’

The Hatton Garden raid has “ruined lives” and victims have lost their “livelihoods”, according to a loss adjuster. 

Ricky Marchant, from Marchant and Marchant, told the BBC that he was dealing with seven clients who had lost items during the robbery, with an estimated value of £2m in total.

Marchant said that it was mainly small businesses that had been hit by the robbery at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company over the Easter weekend, last month.

He said: “We are dealing here with mainly small businesses and they are not making huge profits. These aren’t extremely wealthy people, for a lot of them their livelihoods have gone.

“All of us might be forgiven for thinking ‘how audacious, how clever’ – but what [the gang has] done is ruin the lives of many people within the Hatton Garden jewellery quarter.”

“I have been told by individuals I have interviewed that they have had friends and colleagues who work in the quarter with them, grown men, hardened dealers – [they] don’t know what to do because of course some haven’t insured at all.

“Their view was ‘it is in a safety deposit box – the key word is safety – it should be ok’ – and of course they have lost everything.”

He added that the chance of uninsured victims recovering their sums is “pretty remote”, and their “only hope” would be pursuing a recovery if there was evidence of negligence.

In total, 72 safe deposit boxes were opened in the robbery and the contents of 56 boxes were taken. Police have offered a £20,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the burglary.