BBC NEWS | UK | England | London (original) (raw)

Denic, who robbed Graff in 2002, and Jovetic who helped another robber escape

The New Bond Street branch of Graff was raided by these men in 2002

A branch of London diamond specialist Graff has been raided by armed robbers, who escaped with jewellery thought to be worth almost �1m, police say.

Scotland Yard's Flying Squad is looking for three white men following Friday's raid in Sloane Street, Knightsbridge.

One of the robbers held a gun, but no shots were fired and no-one was hurt.

Three years ago, robbers took �23m of jewellery from Graff's store in New Bond Street, Mayfair. One was caught and later jailed for 15 years.

Pink Panther gang

The three men involved in Friday's raid, which happened at 1330 BST, fled on foot and ran towards Basil Street.

The 2002 raid was believed to have been masterminded by a Balkan group known as the Pink Panther gang.

The robbery took only three minutes, although a security guard was able to wrestle to the ground Serbian-born Nebojsa Denic, 34.

He was jailed for 15 years after being convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to rob.

Milan Jovetic, who admitted helping a third man escape with the gems, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years, also for conspiracy to rob.

Only �3m worth of the stolen jewellery has been recovered.

A �500,000 blue diamond ring was found in a tub of face cream belonging to Jovetic's girlfriend at his house in Bayswater, west London.

Mobsters' target

Chicago mobsters also stole nearly �1.5m worth of diamonds from the Graff Knightsbridge shop in 1980.

Joseph Scalise and Arthur Rachelgot escaped with the 26-carat Marlborough diamond, which was worth �400,000 at the time.

They were later caught in the United States and extradited to the UK. They were jailed for nine years after a trial, but the diamond has never been recovered.