Hatton Garden raid: Man denies plotting burglary in phone calls
One of the men accused of taking part in the Hatton Garden raid has denied plotting the burglary in telephone calls with one of the ringleaders.
Carl Wood, 58, told London's Woolwich Crown Court he would often speak on the phone with Daniel "Danny" Jones, who has admitted his role in the largest burglary in English history.
But Wood said the pair, friends for 30 years, never discussed any criminal activities.
The daring raid took place at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd over the Easter weekend, with a gang armed with heavy machinery breaking into the company's vault before ransacking 73 safe deposit boxes.
On the first day of the defence case, Wood told the jury that he and 60-year-old Jones would have "general chit chat" on the phone.
The prosecution allege that the series of phone calls involved plotting the Hatton Garden raid.
Referring to a call in early January, Nick Corsellis, defending, asked: "Were you discussing the planning of the largest burglary in English history?"
Wood replied: "No I was not. If I wasn't going on a walk, generally I was visiting my mum, with my wife or my children, or in the vicinity of my house. My life never changed other than that."
Wood, who was in debt and had financial issues at the beginning of the year, told the court he knew Jones was obsessed with crime, but that they never discussed this.
"He would tell me from time to time what he had been up to, but I never asked," said Wood.
Wood is accused of being one of the men who broke into Hatton Garden Safe Deposit on the night of April 2. He is alleged to have also returned on the night of April 4, but walked away from the job after finding the fire escape door closed.
The prosecution argue that a suspect identified as "Man F" in CCTV footage of the burglary is Wood.
Wood, of Elderbek Close, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, is charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, and one count of conspiracy to convert, conceal or transfer criminal property.
Ringleaders Brian Reader, John "Kenny" Collins, 75, Jones and Terry Perkins, 67, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary between May 17, 2014, and 7.30am on April 5 this year.
William Lincoln, 60, of Winkley Street, Bethnal Green, east London; and Jon Harbinson, 42, of Beresford Gardens, Benfleet, Essex, are on trial accused of the same offence.
A fourth man, plumbing engineer Hugh Doyle, 48, of Riverside Gardens, Enfield, north London, is jointly charged with them on one count of conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property between January 1 and May 19 this year. He also faces an alternative charge of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property between April 1 and May 19.
One of the thieves, a red-haired man known only as Basil, has not yet been identified.
Collins of Bletsoe Walk, Islington; Jones of Park Avenue, Enfield; Perkins of Heene Road, Enfield and Reader of Dartford Road, Dartford, are due to be sentenced at a later date.
The trial continues.