Built in celebration of Y2K, the Millennium dome was conceived under a John Major-led conservative government to celebrate the coming of the third millennium. In the planning stages much hype surrounded the dome. It was to be 'London's answer to the Eiffel Tower' and 'the envy of the world'. However, critics claimed it to be a 'White Elephant' and a 'triumph of insignificance' saying that the £758m price tag could have been far better spent on improving education, health care, sports facilities or affordable housing.
The dome was never far from the headlines for overspending or corruption claims; but whilst most of this news has faded away, one story remains strong in the mind of the public: that of the dome diamond thieves. This group of men had plotted an extraordinarily ambitious raid on the dome to steal the Millennium Star, a 203 carat, flawless stone which is one of the world's most iconic diamonds; as well as the Millennium Jewels and 12 blue diamonds that were part of a De Beers exhibition and worth upwards of £350million.
It was a heist of Hollywood proportions involving smoke grenades, sledgehammers, automotive weapons and a get-away speedboat. However, even with all these tools and months of meticulous planning, it wasn't enough to get the goods; the men were arrested by armed police within moments of crashing into the dome with a JCB and De Beers had already switched the diamonds with crystal replicas after being warned by the police that a raid was imminent.
The successful police operation was a result of months of planning and involved more than 100 officers and members of the Metropolitan Police's elite Flying Squad. There was a window of 24 days when police believed that the heist would be attempted, and during this time, armed officers disguised as tourists and cleaners (concealing their weapons in bin bags) where lying in wait for the gang. They pounced as four robbers tried to break their way into the display using sledgehammers and a nail gun, after first donning gas masks and setting off smoke bombs and ammonia gas in the vault. A further five men were arrested following raids in a hotel in London and in the villages of Collier Street, and Horsmoden in west Kent.
Had it been successful, the Dome diamond raid would have been the biggest robbery of all time, though police believed that the diamonds would have been very difficult to sell on, as they were so well known.
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