Pc denies link to Dome plot

Police had suspected there would be a raid at the Dome

A police officer who worked at the Millennium Dome has denied telling his brother-in-law about a foolproof way to snatch diamonds worth £200m months before the attraction was raided.

Police Constable Michael Waring, an officer with the Metropolitan Police for 25 years, is related through marriage to Raymond Betson - one of five men standing trial at the Old Bailey.

The five are alleged to have plotted to snatch the gems from the De Beers Millennium Diamond Exhibition in November 2000.

Andrew Mitchell QC, for Mr Betson, suggested the constable told his relative he had met someone called Tony who had "a cunning plan to steal the Millennium diamonds - that security at the Dome was crap and that the theft would be a piece of cake".

Dome visit

Pc Waring, who worked on the Dome's perimeter between November 1999 and July 2000, told the court on Wednesday that no such conversation had taken place.

"I do not recall anyone called Tony; I could not arrange for meetings with someone I do not know," he said.

Mr Mitchell then asked the officer if he had been "recruited by other parts of the police service to ensnare Mr Betson into thinking there was a perfect plan to steal the diamonds".

Pc Waring said he only knew about the diamonds after seeing then during a visit to the Dome with his wife and children.

He denied being in a position to supply security information about the jewels.

The officer told the court that he was concerned when he found out about the Dome raid "because I worked on the Millennium scene".

'Dozen meetings'

Pc Waring's wife's sister was Betson's common-law wife and the officer was godfather to their son.

The officer said he had met Mr Betson no more than a dozen times since his marriage in 1991.

Aldo Ciarrocchi, 31, of Balaclava Road, Bermondsey, William Cockran, 48, of Catford, both south-east London, Robert Adams, 57, of no fixed address and Mr Betson, 39, of Chatham, Kent, all deny conspiracy to rob.

But the four have admitted the lesser charge of conspiring to steal.

Kevin Meredith, 34, of Auckland Drive, Brighton, East Sussex, denies both conspiring to rob and conspiring to steal.

A sixth man, Wayne Taylor, was cleared of any involvement in the alleged plot and freed on the direction of a judge in December.

The prosecution alleges the gang intended to snatch the gems by smashing their way in with an earthmover and escaping by speedboat to the north bank of the Thames.

The trial continues.