The Graff jewellery robbery
London, England, 2009
This case is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places and events in the game do not portray real people. The account below is a factual summary, based on public sources, of the case that served as inspiration.
On the afternoon of 6 August 2009, at around 4:40 pm, two well-dressed men stepped out of a taxi in front of the Graff jewellers on New Bond Street, in Mayfair, London, and walked in as customers. Inside the shop, they drew two pistols and forced a saleswoman to empty the display cases. They did not hide their faces from the cameras: hours earlier, a professional make-up artist had changed their skin tone and features with latex prosthetics and wigs, in a job of about four hours that he believed was for a music video. One of the men went in wearing leather gloves, and security still opened the door.
The robbers took 43 pieces, including rings, bracelets, necklaces and watches, valued at nearly 40 million pounds, at the time the biggest jewellery theft in UK history. During the escape, they took the saleswoman hostage as far as the street, fired shots and switched cars more than once. The first car hit a taxi and was abandoned with a pay-as-you-go phone left between the driver's seat and the handbrake; the numbers stored in it quickly led police to the gang. In August 2010, the man who planned and carried out the robbery was sentenced to 23 years in prison, and other participants received sentences of 16 years or more. Most of the jewels were never recovered, and experts believe the stones were recut and sold.
Sources
In the game
Borrowed Face
Whitcombe Jewellers, Mayfair, London, Thursday, 4:40 pm. Two men in suits stepped out of a taxi, walked through the double doors like clients with an appointment and pulled two pistols in the showroom.
The game borrows the latex disguise made for a fake music video, the leather gloves that got past the door, the saleswoman taken hostage and the phone left in the getaway car. Characters, details of the investigation and outcome are fiction.
