By Rebecca Camber
A policeman's son was convicted yesterday of snatching £40million in jewels during Britain's biggest gems heist.
Aman Kassaye was one of two raiders who held staff at Graff Diamonds at gunpoint, escaping with a record haul in just two minutes.
Dressed in suits and wearing make-up disguises to make them appear ten years older, they fooled security guards
Graff Diamonds in London's Bond Street, scene of Britain's biggest jewellery heist in which £40million of diamonds were stolen in two minutes
The son of a captain in the Ethiopian police force, Kassaye was raised in a devoutly Christian family who moved to Britain in 1988 for a better life.
But after his father's death, he dropped out of St Mary's University College in Twickenham, South-West London, to peddle cocaine to rich students at Regent's College, Central London.
By the age of 20, he had convictions for possessing ecstasy and an offensive weapon and at the time of the robbery he was on bail for possessing crack cocaine.
Kassaye, 25, gave a thumbs-up to supporters after being found guilty of conspiracy to rob, kidnap and possession of a firearm after a nine-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court.
The jury is still deliberating against six co-defendants, who all deny taking part.
They include his alleged accomplice Craig Calderwood, 27, who is said to have entered the shop with him.
Calderwood admits taking part in the robbery, but claims he was forced into it because of threats made to him and his family.
CCTV images show two suspects in Britain's biggest jewellery heist
Kassaye marched Miss Ehnar outside with a gun to her back, before releasing her as they escaped in a waiting BMW.
However the car crashed into a taxi and Kassaye fired warning shots as he was chased by a member of the public. Police were held up by four 'blocking vehicles'.
But in their panic, the gang left a holdall in the abandoned getaway car containing a sawn-off shotgun and a mobile phone.
Police later found Kassaye's DNA on make-up brushes used to disguise him at a studio in Covent Garden.
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