Woman 'hid stolen gold in her bra

An Essex woman stashed two gold bars from a £1 million Belgium heist in her bra, the Old Bailey heard.

The stolen bullion was discovered when Belgian police searched Sheron Mancini, 53, from Harlow, as she drove towards a ferry for Britain, jurors were told.

Earlier, she left a hotel room in Antwerp where officers found more stolen gold and silver bars last October, said John Price, QC, prosecuting.

He added: "When Ms Mancini was searched there was found, concealed in her bra, two gold ingots.

"They were wrapped in a plastic bag with the Metalor label indicating that they were part of the stolen consignment sourced from Metalor in Switzerland."

He said grains of silver were found in a travel bag allegedly found in the car in which she had been driving with her partner David Gale.

Six British men, including Gale, 55, and David Chatwood, 58, both of Essex, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal.

Mancini, of Parkfields, Roydon, Harlow, John Corley, 52, of Tankerton Road, Whitstable, Kent, Kyriacos Nicolas, 30, of The Chine, Winchmore Hill, north London, and his father Andreas, 50, of Bankesmead, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, deny conspiring to launder the proceeds of crime.

Corley and Kyriacos, who along with his father was described as a wealthy businessman, also deny conspiracy to steal.

The case continues.