Police in Newham are appealing for information after burglars smashed a hole in the wall of a jewellers and crawled inside to steal £1.8million of goods.
Asian gold and diamond necklaces, bracelets, pendants and earrings were taken during the raid on Joyalukkas in Green Street, E7.
Officers have today released CCTV footage and still images of three of men involved who acted as lookouts as well as footage of two suspects inside the store.
The incident was reported to police on Monday, 10 July after shop staff arrived at work to discover the store in disarray. The raid took place between 03:00hrs and 06:40hours that morning.
Eight suspects are believed to have been involved with three entering the shop and the rest acting as lookouts.
The three men used a sledgehammer and a crow bar – left at the scene – to create a hole in the rear of the shop which backs onto an alleyway off Neville Road, E6.
Once it was large enough, they crawled inside.
They spent more than three hours inside gathering the jewellery from drawers and counters and stuffing it into rucksacks.
They then left via the hole and are believed to have climbed a wall into a builders’ yard behind the shop before making off towards Plashet Road.
The remaining suspects acted as lookouts, three of whom watching the shop from 17:00hrs on Sunday, 9 July until the raid was complete.
