Diamonds swapped for pebbles in London gem heist

A woman stole diamonds worth £4.2m from a jewellers by swapping them with pebbles using “sleight of hand”, a court has heard.

Lulu Lakatos, 60, allegedly posed as a gemologist who examined the stones from Boodles in central London.

Ms Lakatos valued seven diamonds at the New Bond Street store before placing them into a bag, a jury was told.

But when the bag was opened, inside were seven small pebbles, Southwark Crown Court heard.

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