The jury in the Millennium Dome diamond raid trial has been sent home after its first day of deliberations.

The jury at the Old Bailey retired today to consider verdicts in the trial of five men accused of plotting to snatch gems worth £200 million from the Dome.

Judge Michael Coombe said four of the five defendants admitted they had conspired to steal diamonds worth £200 million from the De Beers exhibition vault at the Dome - but they denied the more serious charge of robbery.

Kevin Meredith, 34, of Aucklands Drive, Brighton, denies conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to steal.

Judge Coombe said Meredith had claimed what he did was a result of duress and he had not known what it was all about.

The prosecution alleged the gang intended to snatch the stones by smashing their way in with an earth mover and escape across the Thames in a speedboat skippered by Meredith.

The four had said they believed they could accomplish taking the diamonds without any interference and it was straightforward theft.

They claimed they would not have gone into robbery because the penalties were too high.

Aldo Ciarrocchi, 32, of Balaclava Road, Bermondsey, south east London; Raymond Betson, 40, of Chatham, Kent; William Cockran, 49, from Catford, south east London; and Robert Adams, 57, of no fixed address, all deny conspiracy to rob.

They have admitted the lesser charge of conspiring to steal.