The Incredible True Story Behind Netflix’s The Diamond Heist
If it had been a success, the audacious raid on ‘priceless’ diamonds on public display would have been one of the biggest hauls in British criminal history. Planned and plotted on a rural Kent farm, the idea was brazen. Burst into the Millennium Dome in Greenwich – just months after it had opened in 2000 – break into a secure ‘fortress’ guarding some of the world’s most valuable gems, and then escape, James Bond-style, down the Thames in a speedboat.
According to a report by Kent Online, the mastermind behind the plot was Lee Wenham, a 32-year-old from a family of scrap metal dealers. The plan was to steal the Millennium Star, a ‘priceless’ diamond owned by specialists De Beers, described as the “world’s largest top-colour internally and externally flawless pear-shaped diamond”. The diamond was part of the Millennium Jewels on display at the Millennium Dome, a collection of valuable gems worth a conservative £350 million.
The plot began to unravel on August 17, 2000, outside a countryside pub in Kent. Terry Millman, the driver of a white Ford Transit van, had reversed into a fence and fallen asleep. Officers had received a call at 1.35am to attend and, upon arrival, Millman was breathalysed and returned a reading comfortably over the legal limit. He was taken down to Tonbridge police station, where checks also revealed the van had false plates and had been stolen.
As reported by Kent Online, Millman had already been spotted as part of a police surveillance operation. His drunken antics that night would be key to police getting – and staying – one step ahead of a daring crime. The Millennium Star was truly a gem of rare beauty, insured, at the time, for £100 million.
The investigation, led by the Met Police’s special operations unit – SO11 – and Kent Police, involved a multi-agency operation, with the Flying Squad and other specialist teams. The gang, comprising seasoned criminals, had planned to break into the Dome, using a JCB to ram through the outer wall, and then make their way to the secure room where the diamonds were kept.
The Kent Online report reveals that, in the early hours of November 7, 2000, the gang put their plan into action. They donned bullet-proof vests, gloves, and gas masks, and set off in the JCB, which crashed through the outer wall of the Dome. However, their plan was foiled when police, who had been tracking them, swung into action, deploying armed officers and surrounding the gang.
The would-be thieves were caught and arrested, and the diamonds were recovered. The plot had been thwarted, thanks to the tireless efforts of the police, who had been tracking the gang for months.
Ex-Kent Police detective Ian Dampier, who was part of the team at the time, said: “It’s always been seen as the Flying Squad’s job, but we did a massive amount of groundwork. There have been numerous books written about the Dome raid and I haven’t seen Kent Police in any of them. We’d almost been forgotten about.”
The Kent Online report goes on to reveal that, in the aftermath of the raid, six more men – including Wenham – were arrested the following morning. During raids of the Wenhams’ farms, police found laundry bags, reflective coats, shotgun cartridges, tabards, and a Smith and Wesson revolver.
The main perpetrators were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, with Robert Adams and Aldo Ciarrocchi receiving 15-year sentences, while Wenham was ordered to serve nine years. Kevin Meredith, the speedboat driver, was jailed for five years.
Ray Betson and William Cockram, the alleged masterminds, were sentenced to 15 years, reduced from 18. Betson was later jailed for a further 13 years in 2014 for a separate crime.
The story of the foiled heist has now been immortalized in a Netflix documentary series, The Diamond Heist, which tells the incredible true story behind the plot.
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