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Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Daily Mail
International antiques thief wanted in Japan for involvement in a £679,000 jewellery store heist may face extradition - after he's served his 36 year jail sentence
An international antiques thief wanted in Japan over a £679,000 jewellery store heist may face extradition - but only after he has served his 36 year jail sentence in the UK. Daniel Kelly, 46, is wanted by Japanese authorities for his alleged involvement in the raid at the Harry Winston Omotesando Hills Salon of Jewellery in Central Tokyo in 2015. Kelly, along with his son Kaine Wright, 27, and Joe Chappell, 37, allegedly posed as security before attacking a guard and making off with gems worth 106,272,000 Yen (£679,000). The trio are said to have fled Japan two days after the heist. In 2019, Kelly was one of three men who carried out the shooting of Paul Allen, the crime boss behind the £54m Securitas robbery. Allen, a former cage fighter, known as 'The Enforcer', was behind Britain's biggest armed robbery at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent in 2006. Six bullets were fired at Allen, 46, through the kitchen window of the detached house he had rented from the comedian Russell Kane in Woodford, east London, on 11 July 2019. He survived but was left paralysed for life. Kelly was convicted of conspiracy to murder by an Old Bailey jury and jailed for 36 years in April this year. Despite his conviction, he is still wanted for his alleged involvement in the Harry Winston raid, with Japanese authorities having begun proceedings to extradite Kelly, Wright and Chappell in 2018. But lawyers told Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday that Kelly can only be extradited once he completes his sentence, which could be 24 years away. In May Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring sent the cases of Wright, a former West Ham youth player, and Chappell to the Secretary of State ahead of their possible extradition to Japan. Alex Tinsley, defending Kelly, told Westminster Magistrates' Court today Kelly may have to wait at least 24 years before he is eligible for parole. 'The appropriate day for the extradition order to be made may only start when his sentence is finished. 'But the issue I see with this is that we may be talking about an extradition in 24 years time. 'We see great difficulty with proceeding that way, as there may be a set of new issues for the High Court to deal with. 'It seems to me that those are issues that the court will have to grapple with.' Ben Keith, for the Japanese authorities, said: 'There is a middle ground in that we can adjourn every six months for at least 24 years. 'The Japanese government want to review Mr Kelly's case after the conclusion of Wright and Chappell's case. 'At the same time, the Japanese government are not intending to withdraw the extradition request.' Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring said: 'Adjourning may seem the most practical way to deal with it. 'I agree that it is perhaps better to wait and adjourn for six months as we are obliged to at the moment, as Mr Kelly is a serving prisoner in domestic proceedings. 'My hope is that the High Court can at least settle the issues with the other two defendants.' Mr Goldspring adjourned Kelly's hearing until November 21 and asked to be kept updated on any developments in the cases of Wright and Chappell. There is currently no extradition treaty between the two countries but the governments negotiated a 'memorandum of co-operation' following requests for the accused robbers to be sent to the Orient. In 2022, a judge had refused to allow Wright and Chappell to be extradited and discharged them on the basis they might be made subject to 'ill-treatment' during detainment. But Japanese authorities appealed against the decision and High Court judges overturned the earlier decision to discharge the two men in January. Kelly, along with brothers Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Louis Ahearne, 36, gunned down Allen just weeks after stealing Ming dynasty antiquities worth £2.8m from The Museum of Far Eastern Art in Geneva, Switzerland. Louis Ahearne was sentenced to 33 years imprisonment, while Stewart Ahearne was jailed for 30 years for his involvement in the shooting. The trio botched the assassination attempt despite using a Glock 9mm pistol equipped with a laser sight. He was shot through the glass door of the kitchen at his large detached rental home in Woodford, north London. It is not clear what their motive for the shooting was, although the judge in case said that she suspected it was part of a wider conspiracy, involving more people than the three suspects, to kill Allen for 'financial gain'.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- BBC News
Brits can be extradited over Tokyo jewellery heist
Two British men accused of robbing a luxury jewellery store in Tokyo can be sent to Japan following a landmark almost a decade, Japanese authorities have pursued the extradition of Kaine Wright, 28, Joe Chappell, 38, and a third man over allegations they posed as customers to steal items worth £679,000 (¥106m) from a Harry Winston Friday, chief magistrate Judge Goldspring rejected Wright and Chappell's challenges against extradition. Their case now passes to the home secretary to decide whether they should be sent to extradition treaty exists between the UK and Japan, meaning it would be the first time Japan have successfully received fugitives. Japan's initial request was rejected, but the High Court overturned the original decision following an appeal lodged by the Japanese Friday's judgement - seen by the BBC - Wright, of Plumstead, and Chappell, of Belvedere, both in London, had raised concerns over prison conditions in Japan which they argued were "arbitrary, excessive and breach international standards".The Japanese government said the submissions were "fundamentally flawed both legally and factually".District Judge Goldspring, chief magistrate of England and Wales, found there was a "prima facie case" - enough evidence to support a charge at first glance - against Chappell and that extradition would be "compatible" with his and Wright's human rights. Friday's ruling follows a recent High Court judgement that the Japanese government had a case to extradite Wright, Chappell and a third man named in papers as Daniel Kelly - who is Wright's case against Kelly will be heard at the end of this month. He has not appeared in previous extradition hearings due to a conspiracy to murder case against him taking from January's High Court judgement state that the Japanese "relied upon a range of evidence" which demonstrated that Kelly, Wright and Chappell travelled to Tokyo around the time of the jewellery raid in November captured all three arriving at Narita International Airport on 18 November 2015 and staying at "the Elm Share House", Japanese authorities Insp Suzuki set out a record of the investigation to the High Court which indicated the trio "took taxis" to Harry Winston's branch in Omotesando their efforts to escape, the trio left a number of items behind including an Armani jacket, he said. Ch Insp Suzuki added: "Goggles were left at the shop and a jacket was left on the route the robbers took to flee from the scene."A professor at the Tokyo Dental College compared ePassport images taken at Narita Airport and compared it to CCTV stills of three men taken at the Harry Winston store."The possibility that two (or three) persons in the relevant comparison are the same is extremely high," Ch Insp Suzuki said in his report, citing the professor's "expert" well as other DNA matches, Ch Insp Suzuki's report referred to "expert evidence that glass shards found at the property where the three stayed that matched the glass in the display case at the jewellery shop".Findings in the reports were challenged at the High Court by lawyers representing Wright and Japanese government said it would ensure that the three men would have the right to consult with a lawyer in private, have any interviews recorded and have the right not to answer any once a promising footballer on the books of West Ham United and Brentford, served time in prison after being convicted in 2023 of trying to sell a Ming vase which was stolen from a museum in to any further appeals, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper now has 28 days to decide whether to extradite Chappell and Wright or reject Japan's request.
