The two suspects arrested over the Louvre jewellery heist have “partially” confessed to their involvement in the robbery, according to a prosecutor.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau revealed the development at a news conference on Wednesday.

Four thieves stole nine items – one of which was dropped and recovered at the scene – in a heist pulled off while the world-famous Paris museum was open to visitors on 19 October.

It took the thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels. They forced open a window and cut into cases with power tools after gaining access via a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift.

Ms Beccuau also said the jewels had not yet been recovered.

“These jewels are now, of course, unsellable,” said Ms Beccuau. “Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods. It’s still time to give them back.”

‘No evidence’

Ms Beccuau also addressed reports that police believe the robbery could have been an inside job.

She said that there was “no evidence the thieves benefited from inside help”.

Under French rules for organised theft, custody can run up to 96 hours. That limit is due to expire late on Wednesday, and prosecutors must charge the suspects, release them or seek a judge’s extension.

One suspect is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010, Ms Beccuau said. He was arrested Saturday night at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket.

Ms Beccuau said that he was living in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, and was known to police mostly for road traffic offences.

The other suspect, 39, was arrested Saturday night at his home in Aubervilliers.

“There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country,” said Ms Beccuau.

The man was known to police for several thefts, and his DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed, and on items the thieves left behind, she added.

Earlier, French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defences.

Paris police chief Patrice Faure told politicians that ageing security systems had left weak spots.

“A technological step has not been taken,” he said.

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Mr Faure also revealed that the Louvre’s authorisation to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and had not been renewed.

He said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s alarms, but from a cyclist outside who dialled the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.

Mr Faure also rejected calls for a permanent police post inside the museum, warning it would set an unworkable precedent and do little against fast and mobile thieves.

“I am firmly opposed,” he said. “The issue is not a guard at a door; it is speeding the chain of alert.”

Five new arrests have been made in the investigation into the Louvre jewellery heist, the prosecutor for Paris has said.

French radio station RTL reported the arrests on Thursday, following an interview with Laure Beccuau.

The Paris prosecutor’s department shared the interview on social media with the caption: “Louvre Burglary: Five New Suspects Apprehended.”

In the interview, Ms Beccuau said one of the five suspects was identified through DNA traces left at the crime scene, but she added that it was “too early” to comment further on the suspects’ identities.

All five were arrested in coordinated raids in Paris and its surrounding areas late Wednesday, but searches overnight “did not allow us to find the goods”, Ms Beccuau said.

It comes after the prosecutor said two suspects arrested over the jewellery heist had “partially” confessed to their involvement in the robbery.

Four thieves stole nine items – one of which was dropped and recovered at the scene – in a heist pulled off while the world-famous Paris museum was open to visitors on 19 October.

It took the thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels worth £76m. They forced open a window and cut into cases with power tools after gaining access via a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift.

Ms Beccuau urged the thieves to return the French crown jewels on Wednesday.

“These jewels are now, of course, unsellable,” she said. “Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods. It’s still time to give them back.”

Regarding the two suspects in custody since Saturday, Ms Beccuau previously revealed that one is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010.

He was arrested Saturday night at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket.

Ms Beccuau said that he was living in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, and was known to police mostly for road traffic offences. His DNA was found on one of the scooters used by the thieves to leave the scene, according to the prosecutor.

The other suspect, 39, was arrested Saturday night at his home in Aubervilliers.

“There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country,” said Ms Beccuau.

The man was known to police for several thefts, and his DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed, and on items the thieves left behind, she added.

The heist exposed major gaps in the Louvre’s defences, with Paris police chief Patrice Faure telling politicians that ageing security systems had left weak spots.

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“A technological step has not been taken,” he said. Mr Faure also revealed that the Louvre’s authorisation to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and had not been renewed.

He said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s alarms, but from a cyclist outside who dialled the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.

A university academic who is receiving “substantial damages” for how he was portrayed in a film has told Sky News he hasn’t received an apology from star Steve Coogan – nor the two companies involved in its production.

Richard Taylor said he was “shell-shocked” after seeing The Lost King for the first time, a film about how Richard III’s skeleton was discovered below a car park in Leicester.

He told The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee: “I wasn’t consulted or even knew I was in the film. The first I hear is I get a phone call while I’m on holiday – and eventually, after press previews, I persuade the producers to let me see a preview.”

Last year, a judge ruled that Mr Taylor was depicted as “smug, unruly dismissive and patronising” – with the plot suggesting he “knowingly” misled the public.

“I’m portrayed by someone on screen who looks like me, who sounds like me, who dresses like me – but behaves in a way that falls so far short of the standards I set for myself and what others might reasonably expect of me,” the academic explained.

Mr Taylor revealed he received emails at work telling him to “rot in hell”, while others described him as a “disgrace”.

He added: “Something that was a collaborative effort that showcased the best of British universities in my view was turned into this farce – where I was the villain and portrayed in a way that was completely inconsistent with the reality and the truth.”

Now chief operating officer at Loughborough University, Mr Taylor said “none of the facts” in the 2022 film were ever checked – and the Alan Partridge star, his company Baby Cow and Pathe Productions did not reach out to him before its release.

“The producers just went ahead, filmed it, produced it, stuck it out there and left me to deal with all the flack and all the fallout from it. Grossly unfair and I feel vindicated from the result we’ve achieved,” he told Sky News.

‘The film’s going to look pretty silly’

As part of the settlement, an on-screen clarification will now be added to the start of the film, but no scenes will be removed.

When asked whether he was satisfied with this outcome, Mr Taylor replied: “I’d have liked them to re-edit the film, but one’s got to be realistic about what one can achieve.

“The insertion of the card will say that the person on screen is a fictitious portrayal – and the real Richard Taylor didn’t behave like that … so the film’s going to look pretty silly.”

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The case was due to proceed to trial, but a High Court hearing on Monday heard that the parties had settled the claim.

In a statement afterwards, Coogan had said: “If it wasn’t for Philippa Langley, Richard III would still be lying under a car park in Leicester. It is her name that will be remembered in relation to the discovery of the lost king, long after Richard Taylor has faded into obscurity.”

He went on to add: “That is the story I wanted to tell, and I am happy I did.”

Reacting to the statement, Mr Taylor argued “it’s a pretty strange definition of happy when you’ve had to settle a defamation claim for seven figures in costs”.

He said: “Steve is never anything other than certain in himself and of his own position, but I think he’s got it wrong – basic facts were not checked.”