Hatton Garden Heist Burglar 'Basil' Accidentally Freed Early Due to Sentence Calculation Error

A major security blunder has been exposed in the British prison system after Michael Seed, one of the key figures in the infamous 2015 Hatton Garden safe deposit box heist, was mistakenly freed from prison. The 65-year-old burglar, famously dubbed "Basil" during the raid, spent six months on the loose before authorities realized the mistake and returned him to custody.

Seed was jailed for 10 years in March 2019 and was later ordered to serve an additional six-and-a-half years for failing to repay his portion of the stolen goods. He was not due for release until June 2027. However, prison officials at HMP High Down in Surrey miscalculated his sentence length, resulting in his erroneous release on August 12, 2025. Seed remained at large until he was finally arrested and returned to custody on February 5, 2026.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed the error, stating that it exposed deep-rooted issues in a "broken justice system" inherited by the government. Steps are reportedly being taken to introduce stricter checks, launch an independent investigation, and update archaic paper-based record systems with modern technology.

During the Easter bank holiday weekend of April 2015, Seed and a gang of elderly career criminals raided Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd, escaping with £13.6 million in gold, gems, and jewellery. Known for his expertise, Seed disabled the alarms and was one of the two men who crawled through a drilled hole in the vault wall. Stashed gold and gems worth £143,000 were later recovered from his Islington flat when he was eventually caught in 2018.

The death of fellow heist mastermind Brian Reader, who passed away in April 2024 at the age of 84, was also noted in reports covering the gang's history. Reader's death closed a chapter on one of the most heavily publicised robberies in modern British history.