https://www.ladbible.com/londonNetflix have added a true crime documentary created by Guy Ritchie about a group of thieves who very nearly stole £350,000,000 from the Millenium Dome.
In a heist that sounds like it was pulled straight from one of Ritchie’s films, the thieves involved speak in the documentary, revealing their plan and where it went wrong.
Netflix’s new documentary, executive produced by Guy Ritchie, is called The Diamond Heist and focuses on the true story of a group of robbers who tried to steal a £350 million diamond collection.
The real life true crime story is a bonkers one with twists and turns that, if they had been put in one of Ritchie’s films, you might have even considered a bit far-fetched.
Advert
The Millenium Dome, in London, which has since been rebranded the O2, housed the De Beers diamond collection.
A group of criminals planned to break in and steal them in an audacious heist involving a JCB truck, a nail gun, and genuinely, a speed boat.
Amongst those speaking in the Netflix documentary is Lee Wenham, a former member of the gang who were involved in the potential heist.
The group planned to smash their way into the dome with the JCB, use a nail gun and hammer to smash into the container with the diamonds, and travel away down the Thames on a speedboat.
This, however, was not what ultimately happened.
Someone had sold the group out, tipping off the police, and the diamonds were swapped out.
Once the group tried to leave with the counterfeit diamonds they were met with 300 police officers, some of whom were armed, waiting to arrest them.
One member of the gang jokingly said: “We would have got away with it but for the fact there were 140 police waiting for us.”
Lee Wenham, who speaks in the Netflix doc, received nine years for his role in the robbery, with the mastermind Raymond 'Black Ray' Betson and his ‘right hand man’ William Cockram each getting 18 years.
Wenham played a key role in the robbery, with him being the one to suggest the use of the JCB and even casing the dome with his young daughter.
The Guardian gave the documentary, released on Netflix today, a three-star review, praising it as ‘pacey and stylish’.
Lucy Mangan pointed out in her review, that while Guy Ritchie is the Executive Producer of the doc and technically not the maker of it, ‘the subject matter is so perfectly him that any meaningful separation in your mind as you watch it collapses quicker than a Greenwich exhibition venue’s shutters under the weight of a JCB driven at speed by a man intent on a multimillion pound payday.’
She did have criticisms though, claiming the documentary glorifies some of the violent acts the gang carries out.
She finished her review by saying: “If you put the really quite serious danger aside and all the suffering the gang members must have caused many innocent people during their long and varied careers out of your mind, it’s a hugely satisfying tale, brilliantly told.”
You can watch The Diamond Heist on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, True Crime, Guy Ritchie, TV and Film, TV, Documentaries
Michael Slavin