The security guard who discovered the £14mn Hatton Garden  jewellery heist yesterday said the elderly villains had achieved “mission impossible.”
Keefa Kamara, 54, arrived for work at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit centre to find it had been ransacked in the raid last year, described as the biggest burglary in British history.
Yesterday, Kamara, who had worked there for 14 years,  told the Standard: “I saw that the lock of the door was at a funny angle and I immediately knew something was wrong. I looked in through a gap and just saw wires all over the floor and chaos inside so I immediately called the police.
“When I found out they had drilled into the vault and got away with all that stuff I was amazed. I never thought it would happen, we had loads of security... it was a mission impossible.”
He spoke after three men were found guilty on Thursday of being involved in the raid in which the gang stole £14mn in cash, jewellery and gold bullion over the bank  holiday weekend last Easter.
A total of seven men with a combined age of 444 years now face lengthy jail terms - and for some it could be a “death sentence” behind bars because of their age.
Victims of the robbery, many of whom lost livelihoods as a result, may take civil action against the raiders, who also face confiscation hearings to recover the loot and could get up to 10 years added to their sentences if they do not co-operate.
Father-of-two Kamara, originally from Uganda, said he had lost his job after the security company closed down after the robbery.
He said: “If I had been there when they broke in I could have been in danger so in a way I have been lucky. But I lost my job and now have only part-time work. “
Detectives are still hunting a mystery key suspect amid fears he could have fled abroad.
The Met’s Flying Squad issued an urgent public appeal for help in tracing the thief, known only as “Basil”, and the missing two-thirds of the loot.
Carl Wood, 58, and William Lincoln, 60, were convicted at Woolwich crown court of conspiracy to commit burglary and transfer criminal property, while plumber Hugh Doyle, 48, was found guilty of transferring criminal property. They were members of the gang, including five others, who ransacked 73 safety deposit boxes at the Hatton Garden centre after drilling through the vault wall.
Valuables worth up to £14mn, including gold, diamonds and sapphires, were taken but only a third have been recovered.
Police say “Basil” let in his co-conspirators by opening the fire escape from inside, then disabled the alarm and climbed through the vault wall, with another man, to get at the boxes.
Flying Squad chief detective superintendent Craig Turner said: “”We are offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction and the recovery of the outstanding property.”
One victim of the heist died of cancer within weeks of the raid, it emerged yesterday.  The pawnbroker had just started his own business and did not have a shop but operated using his box and lost his livelihood when the gang struck.
Rick Marchant, a loss adjustor dealing with several clients who lost millions in the raid, said the pawnbroker had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer but his condition deteriorated very quickly after the shock of the robbery and he died within five weeks.