MAN SWALLOWS £35,000 ENGAGEMENT RING IN HATTON GARDEN JEWELLERY STORE

A man swallowed a princess-cut diamond engagement ring valued at £35,000 whilst inside Elegance Jewellers in Hatton Garden, central London, according to staff at the business. The incident occurred in June 2025 when the customer, who had spent two hours examining various rings, picked up the ring and placed it in his mouth before swallowing it, CCTV footage showed. When staff confronted the man about the missing ring, he put his fingers down his throat and regurgitated it, after which security escorted him from the shop.

Junaid Hassan, 28, who runs the family jewellery business, stated he and his colleagues did not immediately notice the ring disappearing and had to review their security footage to understand what had occurred. His father, Syed Hussan, 58, who served the customer that day, said the man entered at closing time and announced he would return the following day with a decision before attempting to leave. Syed Hassan described the swallowing as so swift that it required multiple viewings of the CCTV recording to identify what had happened.

Junaid Hassan told media outlets that the incident was unprecedented in the family's three generations of trading in Hatton Garden. He expressed surprise at how the customer managed to swallow the ring without apparent difficulty, noting he could not take paracetamol without water. The staff remain unclear on what became of the man after he was escorted out of the premises.