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Graff Diamonds
Caught on camera: CCTV film of the pair at Graff’s two days before the raid

Mayfair heist police make 3D faces from mask moulds

Justin Davenport, Crime Editor
17 Aug 2009


Police hunting the £40million Mayfair gem raiders are planning to create 3D faces from moulds used to make the latex masks they wore.

The robbers had their features disguised at the Charles Fox make-up studio in Covent Garden hours before the raid on Graff Diamonds.

Now experts are working on plaster moulds of the pair's features which were used to construct the masks but were left behind in the studio.

A specialist make-up artist there, who helped to disguise the men's faces with latex, is helping the police effort to create the images and is under armed protection. Experts from Madame Tussauds waxworks museum may also be brought in to help.

Flying Squad detectives hunting the robbers are also combing hundreds of mobile phone records in an effort to trace a single call they made.

CCTV pictures caught one of the pair using a phone outside Graff's in New Bond Street two days before the heist on 6 August.

Police believe the thieves intended to carry out the raid on 4 August but called it off at the last minute, possibly because they could not see the jewels they were targeting. They eventually escaped with 43 items encrusted with 1,500 diamonds, including jewellery and watches - all believed to have been in the window display cabinet.

Experts think the diamonds will have been broken down and sold individually to buyers lined up abroad.

After the phone call, CCTV footage shows the men calmly walking away. A blue BMW, which was one of three getaway cars used in the final operation, is seen driving past the store.

As in the actual raid, the two men used a make-up artist to hide their identity. The woman, who works for a different studio, has been interviewed by police and is also under protection. Officers are reportedly focusing on an Essex gangster said to have bankrolled the operation. He is thought to have planned to hijack £22million of Graff diamonds from Heathrow last year but aborted the raid at the last moment.

Police believe at least six men are in the Mayfair gang and have announced a £1million reward for information leading to their arrest. But one source said: "This robbery is the talk of the underworld yet so far there has not been the information we'd expect."

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