Hunt continues for £40m robbery gang
23rd February 2006
Robbery: Cops outside the depot where raiders stole £40million
A massive police search is continuing for an armed gang on the run with up to £40 million in cash in what is thought to be Britain's biggest robbery.
The Bank of England said at least £25million had been stolen from a security depot on Wednesday, but sources said the true figure could be as high as £40million, making it the biggest heist in British history.
The Governor of the Bank of England called for a review of security arrangements for the storage of banknotes following the raid on the Securitas cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
Kent Police said the heist began when the manager of Securitas' main cash depot south of the Thames was pulled over while driving near Stockbury, Maidstone, by what he believed was an unmarked police car.
A man wearing a high-visibility jacket and "police-style" hat got out of the vehicle, which had blue lights in the radiator grille, and spoke to him. Thinking they were genuine police officers, the manager got into their car where they handcuffed him.
Meanwhile, two more fake policemen visited the manager's wife and young son, told them the manager had been involved in an accident, and took them from their Herne Bay home, officers said.
The manager was driven off and the car was later met by a white van. He was tied up and put inside and taken to an unknown location where he was threatened at gunpoint and told to "cooperate or his family would be at risk", a Kent Police spokesman said.
He was later taken to the Vale Road security depot where at least six men, some masked and armed with handguns, threatened and tied up the staff.
The gang loaded the cash into a white lorry before driving off. Police were alerted about an hour later when the shocked but uninjured staff activated an alarm.
The manager, his wife and son - who had been taken to an undisclosed location - were also unhurt.
The robbery is the biggest cash heist in British history.
It easily surpasses the £26.5million stolen from Belfast's Northern Bank in December 2004, a robbery widely blamed on the IRA.
Four men, including 24-year-old bank employee Chris Ward, have so far been charged in connection with the Belfast robbery.
The Tonbridge robbery also dwarfs the £2,631,784 in banknotes taken by the Great Train Robbers in August 1963 - although allowing for inflation the cash would be worth about £40 million in today's money.
The men ambushed a train in Buckinghamshire and hit train driver Jack Mills over the head. Members of the gang were later caught and handed 30-year prison terms.
In November 1983, another gang stole 6,800 bars of gold from the Brink's-Mat high security bullion warehouse near Heathrow airport, west London.
The £26million raid was carried out by six armed men posing as security guards, who escaped with three tonnes of gold after dousing a guard with petrol and threatening to set him ablaze if he did not open the vault.
In July 1987, raiders netted an estimated £30million when they broke into a safety deposit centre opposite Harrods in Knightsbridge, London and cleared out the contents.
The world record for a mugging happened on the streets of London and stands at £292million. On May 2 1990, John Goddard was doing his daily courier round from Sheppard's money brokers when a mugger held him at knifepoint and grabbed his briefcase containing almost 300 bearer bonds.
Within hours every major bank had been warned not to accept the certificates.
dailymail.co.uk
23rd February 2006
Robbery: Cops outside the depot where raiders stole £40million
A massive police search is continuing for an armed gang on the run with up to £40 million in cash in what is thought to be Britain's biggest robbery.
The Bank of England said at least £25million had been stolen from a security depot on Wednesday, but sources said the true figure could be as high as £40million, making it the biggest heist in British history.
The Governor of the Bank of England called for a review of security arrangements for the storage of banknotes following the raid on the Securitas cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
Kent Police said the heist began when the manager of Securitas' main cash depot south of the Thames was pulled over while driving near Stockbury, Maidstone, by what he believed was an unmarked police car.
A man wearing a high-visibility jacket and "police-style" hat got out of the vehicle, which had blue lights in the radiator grille, and spoke to him. Thinking they were genuine police officers, the manager got into their car where they handcuffed him.
Meanwhile, two more fake policemen visited the manager's wife and young son, told them the manager had been involved in an accident, and took them from their Herne Bay home, officers said.
The manager was driven off and the car was later met by a white van. He was tied up and put inside and taken to an unknown location where he was threatened at gunpoint and told to "cooperate or his family would be at risk", a Kent Police spokesman said.
He was later taken to the Vale Road security depot where at least six men, some masked and armed with handguns, threatened and tied up the staff.
The gang loaded the cash into a white lorry before driving off. Police were alerted about an hour later when the shocked but uninjured staff activated an alarm.
The manager, his wife and son - who had been taken to an undisclosed location - were also unhurt.
The robbery is the biggest cash heist in British history.
It easily surpasses the £26.5million stolen from Belfast's Northern Bank in December 2004, a robbery widely blamed on the IRA.
Four men, including 24-year-old bank employee Chris Ward, have so far been charged in connection with the Belfast robbery.
The Tonbridge robbery also dwarfs the £2,631,784 in banknotes taken by the Great Train Robbers in August 1963 - although allowing for inflation the cash would be worth about £40 million in today's money.
The men ambushed a train in Buckinghamshire and hit train driver Jack Mills over the head. Members of the gang were later caught and handed 30-year prison terms.
In November 1983, another gang stole 6,800 bars of gold from the Brink's-Mat high security bullion warehouse near Heathrow airport, west London.
The £26million raid was carried out by six armed men posing as security guards, who escaped with three tonnes of gold after dousing a guard with petrol and threatening to set him ablaze if he did not open the vault.
In July 1987, raiders netted an estimated £30million when they broke into a safety deposit centre opposite Harrods in Knightsbridge, London and cleared out the contents.
The world record for a mugging happened on the streets of London and stands at £292million. On May 2 1990, John Goddard was doing his daily courier round from Sheppard's money brokers when a mugger held him at knifepoint and grabbed his briefcase containing almost 300 bearer bonds.
Within hours every major bank had been warned not to accept the certificates.
dailymail.co.uk