article: BBC News takes a look at the men behind the audacious plot to steal precious metals, cash and jewels worth more than £14m. Date of Birth: 28.02.1939 Address: Dartford Road, Dartford, Kent Plea: Admitted conspiracy to burgle Reader, a career criminal known as "The Master" and "The Governor" by his fellow gang members, had stood trial in the 1980s accused of murdering a police officer. He was chosen to mastermind the Hatton Garden raid due to his involvement in the notorious Brinks Mat robbery of 1983. During that raid, gold bullion and diamonds worth £26m (about £78m in today's values) were taken from a warehouse near Heathrow Airport in what is still Britain's biggest gold robbery. Reader - and fellow criminal Kenneth Noye - were suspected of laundering the proceeds and placed under surveillance. When they found Det Con John Fordham spying on them in the grounds of Noye's home in Kent, Noye stabbed the detective 11 times in the back. Both men were placed on trial for murder but were acquitted after Noye claimed to have been acting in self defence. Police had found 11 gold bullion bars at Noye's home though and he and Reader were jailed for eight and 14 years respectively for conspiracy to handle stolen goods. Noye would later reach new levels of infamy for the road rage murder of Stephen Cameron and is currently serving a life sentence. Reader, who ran a used car dealership, pulled out of the Hatton Garden raid after the failed break-in attempt on the first night when the gang's drill broke. Call data records and police observation showed that he continued to meet up with the other ring leaders following the raid. The eldest of the group, he used somebody else's Freedom Pass to get a bus to Hatton Garden on the night of the raid. He was filmed on CCTV in the area wearing a distinctive red scarf later found at his Dartford home, where he was arrested on 19 May. When they searched his house detectives also found a book on the diamond underworld, a diamond tester, a diamond gauge and diamond magazines. D.O.B. 01.03.1955 Address: Park Avenue, Enfield, north London Plea: Admitted conspiracy to burgle An experienced criminal with convictions for burglary, attempted robbery and handling stolen goods dating back to 1975, Jones was convicted in 1982 of stealing items worth £92,000 from Ratner's jewellers. He was also described in court as "eccentric" and "mad". His friend Carl Wood told Woolwich Crown Court: "Danny is a very sensitive guy, a very funny man. Eccentric to extremes, everyone who knew Danny would say he was mad. He would go to bed in his mother's dressing gown with a fez on." The court heard Jones claimed to have fortune-telling powers, spoke to his dog Rocket as though it was human and was obsessed with the Army and keeping fit, often preferring a sleeping bag on the floor to a bed. One of the four ringleaders, he was arrested on 19 May along with two other conspirators after dropping off some
summary: The Hatton Garden raiders were dubbed "Dad's Army" on account of their advanced age and many had extensive criminal records going back decades.