Out of all the places in London you could choose to burgle from, an apartment in the Old Bailey. I pity the dozy bugger if he ever gets caught, cant see any judge letting him off lightly
LONDON (Reuters) - The Old Bailey has been burgled and thousands of pounds worth of jewellery stolen, police said on Wednesday.
A residential grace and favour apartment on the top floor of the court was broken into earlier this month.
Police said on Wednesday that items of jewellery were taken, which newspaper reports added included a 20,000 pound ring.
The court complex, which has some of the country's tightest security, was searched by police and taped off while staff were questioned, leading to speculation that it was an "inside job".
"We are investigating a burglary at a residential flat in EC4 during the weekend of April 4-5," a force spokeswoman said in a statement.
"Items of jewellery were stolen. It is within the Old Bailey complex." She declined to elaborate.
The two-room residential flat is occupied by the court's sheriff, a largely historic and ceremonial role which involves managing the court's senior judges.
Some of the sheriff's tasks include writing speeches for the judges and also standing in for the Lord Mayor of London when necessary during official functions.
The senior sheriff is currently Ian Luder, 57, a tax partner with Grant Thornton chartered accountants, who lives there with his 43 year-old wife Lin, who is head of IT for a city-based US law firm.
The property is one of five taxpayer-funded apartments in the Old Bailey.
The others are reserved for a fellow sheriff, the court's two highest ranked judges and a senior court official.
Visitors to the private apartments must be accompanied by a member of court staff at all times.
The original medieval Old Bailey was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt as an Italianate brick building in 1673. It was rebuilt several more times, with the current, main building dating from 1907.
The current building stands on the site of old London's notorious Newgate jail, which until 1868 held public hangings every Monday morning watched by huge crowds.
