A former West Ham youth player is set to face trial in Japan after a British court granted his extradition over a £680k jewellery store heist in Tokyo.
Ex-football prodigy Kaine Wright, 27, and Joe Chappell, 37, allegedly took 46 items from the Harry Winston Omotesando Hills Salon of Jewellery in the Shibuya district of Tokyo in 2015.
The two men are said to have posed as security guards before attacking one of the store’s real security guards and making off with gems worth around £679,000.
They are accused of carrying out the heist with Wright’s father, Daniel Kelly, 46 – who was jailed last month in connection with a botched plot to murder the mastermind behind Britain’s biggest ever cash robbery.
Kelly is one of three men, alongside brothers Stewart Ahearne and Louis Ahearne, who schemed to kill Paul Allen, a cage fighter who pulled off the notorious £54million Securitas depot heist in 2006.
Allen was left paralysed after he was shot in the neck in 2019 at his home in Woodford, east London that he rented from the comedian Russell Kane following his release from prison.
He was hit by two bullets fired through the kitchen window of the detached house on July 11, 2019.
Kelly was handed a 36 year prison sentence with an extended licence period of five years at the Old Bailey in April 2025.
Ex-West Ham youth player Kaine Wright, 27, is facing trial in Japan after his extradition was grantedcould be extradited to Japan after the High Court overruled a judge’s decision to discharge him
Kaine Wright arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on April 11, 2025 at an earlier extradition hearing
A security guard stands in front of the closed Harry Winston jewellery store on the ground floor of the Omotesando Hills shopping complex in Tokyo on November 22, 2015, following the alleged robbery
In relation to the jewellery theft, the Government of Japan claims that Wright and Chappell fled the country just two days after the violent robbery in 2015.
The Japanese authorities began extradition proceedings against the trio back in 2018.
There is currently no extradition treaty between the UK and Japan but the two countries negotiated a ‘memorandum of co-operation’ following requests for the men to be sent to the Japan.
In 2022 a judge refused to allow the pair to be extradited and discharged them on the basis that the two men might be made subject to ‘ill-treatment’ during detainment.
But Japanese authorities appealed against the decision and a High Court ruling in January this year overturned the earlier decision to discharge the two men.
Wright was in the West Ham youth academy before he moved to the USA to pursue opportunities in the MLS.
Mark Summers KC, for Chappell, earlier told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that extradition would result in a ‘grossly disproportionate sentence’ for his client.
He said there was a ‘real risk that Mr Chappell’s sentence will be increased by the years he has already served in custody.
Kaine Wright and Joe Chappell are accused of carrying out the heist with Wright’s father, Daniel Kelly, 46 (pictured) – who was handed a 36 year jail sentence last jailed last month in connection with a botched plot to murder Paul Allen, the mastermind behind the 2006 Securitas depot heist
Allen was convicted of Britain’s largest cash robbery in 2009 when he and other gang members raided a Securitas depot, stealing £54million. Three men tried to kill him after he was released from prison
Damage to the kitchen door at Allen’s home following the shooting, including visible bullet holes. One hit him in the neck
Two more bullet holes going through the top of one of the kitchen doors
Allen was left paralysed by the 2019 shooting. A judge said last month that short of killing him, the trio’s crime could ‘hardly be more serious’
Wright was sentenced to three years in jail in October 2023 for trying to sell a £1.9million Ming vase that was stolen from a museum in Switzerland in 2019
Wright now faces extradition to Japan to stand trial for his part in an alleged jewellery robbery
Wright and Joe Chappell allegedly stole 46 pieces of jewellery worth 106,272,000 yen, approximately £679,000
‘Under Japanese standards, that will be by definition a sentence that is disproportionate to the crime’, the lawyer added.
Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Wright, said he could face ‘punitive solitary confinement’ for things like ‘looking in the wrong direction.’
‘That confinement can be up to 60 days, and it involves cellular confinement for 24 hours per day with 30 minutes exercise and 15 minutes for bathing.’
Ben Keith, for the Government of Japan, said the likely sentences for Wright and Chappell would be ‘not arbitrary, nor even in the ballpark of disproportionate.’
He said Mr Fitzgerald’s point about solitary confinement ‘isn’t founded in law’.
Mr Summers had told the judge his decision would hinge on ‘where (he) stands on issues of personal liberty.’
But Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring today (fri) announced that the case would be sent to the Secretary of State for the two men’s extradition to be ordered.
He concluded that there was ‘no arguable basis that the requested person(s) face a real risk of grossly disproportionate sentences.’
‘The maximum sentences in Japan for the relevant offences falls within the ordinary sentencing range internationally and domestically,’ he added.
The judge further found it would be ‘unnecessary to make further findings of fact regarding (the issue) of solitary confinement.’
The judge accepted submissions on behalf of the Japanese government that ‘isolation would be used only when necessary and as a last resort.’
He surmised that the extradition of ‘both Mr Chappell and Mr Wright would be compatible with their human rights.
‘Accordingly, these matters are now sent to the Secretary of State.’
