Police guard for make-up artist who disguised £40m raiders

The make-up artist who was duped into altering the appearance of the two men who went on to carry out Britain’s biggest jewellery robbery is under police guard.

The 29-year-old man, who works at one of London’s oldest make-up studios, is helping the police to make e-fit impressions of the men. They were in casual clothing and said that they were appearing in a video. The men changed into suits after leaving him and, it is thought, headed straight for Graff jewellers, in Bond Street, in a taxi, where they escaped with a haul worth £40 million.

Officers are studying CCTV footage from around the studio in Covent Garden where the freelance artist spent four hours with the men, altering their appearance with small amounts of liquid latex, which was dried and shaped. He also altered their hair and skin tone, and was paid £450 in cash.

The shop, one of the best known in the business, offers make-up for beauty and fashion shoots, special effects make-up, facial hair and accessories. Forensic science officers are examining the brushes and gowns used by the artist for DNA samples, which could be used to identify the thieves.

The artist, who is not being identified for his own safety, has said the men had London accents. Police believe they are still in the capital.

A make-up expert said that it was unlikely that the men, one white and one black, had their appearances changed significantly, because they were not worked on for long enough.

Make-up artists who worked at the same shop unwittingly provided disguises for members of a gang who stole £53 million from the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.

The men who raided Graff were let in by a security guard through the “airlock” security door before producing handguns and forcing the staff on to the floor and ordering one women to open a display cabinet. Within minutes they had loaded a holdall with 43 items.

Detectives said last night that they had recovered a loaded gun in connection with the robbery. They also appealed for information to trace two vehicles: a silver Mercedes and a blue Volkwagen Sharan, both with cloned number plates.

Up to six men are thought to have been involved, and all are believed to be still in Britain, although the jewellery could have been sent abroad.

A jeweller in Hatton Garden, who deals in expensive items, said: “I would think that these jewels are already abroad, probably in the Middle East. Graff specialises in coloured, one-of-a-kind diamonds that will be instantly recognisable to anyone in this country [dealing] in diamonds. Everyone in the trade assumes that they had a buyer in mind long before the raid took place.” The expert estimated that they would get about £6 million for their haul.

It is now believed that the men may have shot at a security guard as they left with a woman hostage.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/c...icle6795323.ece

On Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09Tk3E59H2w

LaoPo

Make-up artists who worked at the same shop unwittingly provided disguises for members of a gang who stole £53 million from the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.

If this had happened in Thailand, you would be able to hear the baying of the wolves in the general forum for miles.

Any chance of making it having something to do with Thailand, we can then post it General and set the Wolves off, winding them up further every now and then, do you think the Mods will let me do it?