Michael Seed

Electronics specialist convicted as the Hatton Garden burglar known as 'Basil', with a central technical role in defeating the vault’s security systems.

Editorial standard

Convictions, acquittals, allegations and contextual links are kept distinct. A graph connection does not imply conduct beyond the relationship stated.

Background

Seed stood apart from the older career criminals in the Hatton Garden crew because his value was technical expertise.

Case / activity

Prosecutors identified him as 'Basil', the figure who gained access to the building and disabled parts of the security system.

Legal outcome

He remained unidentified for years after the 2015 burglary before being arrested in 2018.

Later context

In 2019 a jury convicted him of conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to handle the proceeds. He received a ten-year sentence.

Graph role

Seed completes the technical-specialist layer of the Hatton Garden event and turns the former mystery 'Basil' node into a named canonical person.

Network links

– Hatton Garden burglary — technical specialist / participant; convicted – Hatton Garden — burglary location

Direct people links

– Brian Reader — fellow Hatton Garden burglar – Danny Jones — fellow burglar; both entered vault through drilled opening – Terry Perkins — fellow burglar – John Collins — fellow burglar

Sources

– The Guardian. Hatton Garden ringleader 'Basil' found guilty over £14m heist (2019-03-15). https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/15/hatton-garden-heist-ringleader-basil-michael-seed-found-guilty – The Guardian. The lonely, criminal life of ‘Basil’ (2019-03-16). https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/16/basil-hatton-garden-robbery-michael-seed-best-alarm-specialist-in-london