Sir Jim Broadbent starring in King of  Thieves – looking through the drilled hole which is
still there

DIAMOND district jewellers are furious at “ghoulish” plans to open a Hatton Garden heist themed wine bar which they say makes a mockery of the trauma caused by the 2015 robbery.

Council planners are considering a landlord’s application to transform the safe deposit box building which was the scene of the hole-in-the-wall raid – masterminded by a gang of Islington crooks – into a glitzy drinking establishment and tourist destination.

The proposal would force the longest-serving jewellery retailer out of a shop his father set up 70 years ago after fleeing the Nazis with little more than a string of gems which his mother had sewn into his suit for safe keeping.

The application, which has already had more than 100 objections, argues the new bar would “celebrate and enhance the heritage significance of the building”.

But George Katz, who runs the threatened E Katz and Co, told the Tribune: “To my mind it is like when you have a car crash and there are people slowing down to look at it and see if there are any bodies there.

“It is ghoulish and completely inappropriate.

“A lot of people lost their livelihoods in the 2015 robbery. Most people didn’t have insurance as safe deposits are supposed to be rock solid, they are nearly impossible to get into. People had such a setback. I believe one person actually took their own life because his whole business was ruined.”

The heist was planned over years in the Castle Pub in Pentonville Road and also at Scott’s Cafe in Clerkenwell Green.

John “Kenny” Collins, who was 74 at the time of the heist, was arrested at his home near Old Street and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle and was later sentenced to seven years in prison.

Safe deposit boxes inside the vault raided in 2015

The brains behind the operation, Michael “Basil” Seed, also lived in Islington. He was “accidentally freed” earlier this year before returning to custody.

Mr Katz recalled the chaos outside the shop the Tuesday after the robbery with hundreds of people trying to get in to see if their boxes had been taken. His family business is just above the safe deposit basement room which famously saw robbers drill through concrete walls to reach a vault while businesses were shut for a bank holiday weekend.

The thieves got away with more than £14million worth of precious metals, cash and jewels.

The case made headlines around the world, not simply for the audacity of the crime – which would not seem out of place in a Hollywood action movie – but the age of the thieves involved, many of whom were seasoned crooks over the age of 60.

Sir Michael Caine and Sir Jim Broadbent were among the cast of King Of Thieves, one of several crime capers and heist films inspired by the story.

Landlord Pearl & Coutts’ plans seek to make the safety deposit boxes, the hole in the wall and a broken door gate a centrepiece of the new trendy bar.

But businesses in the street do not see the case as a source of entertainment.

Mr Katz, who is 86, is planning on retirement to pass over the family business to his son-in- law Robert Willis, who said: “You have someone here making fun of the robbery, to have cocktails and laugh about it – and right in the heart of Hatton Garden.”

Telling the history of the shop, Mr Katz said: “My father fled Czechoslovakia and arrived in England in 1939. He left without his two sisters, who were married and sadly didn’t want to come – they were subsequently murdered. He came to Hatton Garden and was told that was the place to get involved in the trade. He found it attractive and solely built up the business.”

His mother Edith took over the business after Emil’s sudden death in 1956, with son George starting out as an apprentice aged 16.

Robert Willis and George Katz at E Katz & Co Ltd

Mr Katz said: “I actually wanted a completely different career at the time, I wanted to go into medical science. But those were the days when you followed your parents into what they were doing.”

He said the business model had changed over the years, originally specialising in antique jewellery but now a retail shop, adding: “We are selling engagement rings to the grandchildren of people who bought their rings here originally. We want to keep it that way.”

Many businesses in the street are objecting, including Holborn Diamond Polishing, based in the same building, which said in its objection: “Camden Council should be protecting and encouraging the jewellery industry that has made Hatton Garden world renowned. To propose removing two old and well established, viable businesses is particularly shameful.”

Henig Diamonds, based in Hatton Garden, warned that approval “could encourage further similar changes of use and gradually reduce the concentration of jewellery businesses in Hatton Garden”.

While Simon Loubskey said: “E Katz are a significant part of the Hatton Garden’s history and heritage and a hugely respected business. To replace this shop – and an equally established workshop in the basement – with a distasteful bar celebrating an awful robbery, would be a travesty for the Hatton Garden.”

Several residents have also written to object, saying the proposal would “change the character of the area”, along with the Langdale and Leather Lane tenants’ associations.

The application said the project would “provide the opportunity for tours of the vault and scene of the heist to the general public during the day”, adding that the “drinking establishment would complement the jewellery sector, providing visitors and shoppers with an opportunity to stay in the area after their business is done”.

The application from Hatton Garden Properties Ltd said landowner Pearl and Coutts had attempted to market the space to other businesses but there had only been “limited interest” from the jewellery trade.

Fire safety legislation marking that businesses of this kind must have two entrances mean there will be a need to use the Katz family shop as an “escape route”, the application said.

It concluded: “The proposals seek to repurpose largely vacant Class E floorspace to deliver a high-quality bar use, enhancing the offer within Hatton Garden and boosting local tourism. The proposals will also improve the overall accessibility of the building, ensuring the new development is accessible to all.”

Camden planners are accepting messages of support and objection until August 30.