Escaped Hatton Garden Raider 'Is Ex-Cop'

The mystery raider 'Basil' who escaped after the Hatton Garden heist is a former policeman, one of the ringleaders has claimed.

A new letter received by Sky News suggests he was the "brains" behind the entire operation.

Danny Jones, who is awaiting sentence for the £14m raid, wrote in a letter from Belmarsh Prison: "I can say that someone told me he was an ex-policeman who got into security by the guy who introduced him to me.

"He said Basil heard about me from a close friend on the police force, as I was arrested for a similar raid in Bond Street in 2010.

"Basil was the brains, as I was recruited by him. He let me in on the night of the burglary, he hid keys and codes throughout the building."

Jones, 60, insists he does not know Basil's identity and if he did he would not reveal it.

:: Hatton Garden Raiders: The One That Got Away

He wrote: "I saw Basil about four times throughout, he came and went. I don't know nothing about him, where he lives. I wasn't interested.

"I wouldn't give him up as I wouldn't grass. It's not a done thing where I come from as (I) fear for family members."

Jones, a career criminal, has admitted his part in the Hatton Garden raid.