As a company that specialises in keeping you and your property safe, we can’t help but find ourselves fascinated by some of the biggest breaches of security in history.
Last month, we announced that we would be running a series that looked at some of the most extraordinary robberies that have ever taken place. In part one, we told you all about the Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery, where over 60 million was stolen from a safe deposit centre in London.
This time, we have turned our attention to a robbery that took place in February 2006 at a cash management depot in Kent, England.
The Securitas Depot Robbery is known as the largest cash robbery in British history, with the thieves stealing around £53,116,760 in bank notes (belonging to the Bank of England).
How It Began
The robbery started on the evening of February 21st, when the manager of the depot was abducted whilst out driving in his car.
Colin Dixon was driving home from work at about 6pm when he was signalled to pull over by what seemed to be an unmarked police car. Following the rules, Dixon pulled over and waited for a man who was dressed as a police officer to approach him. He was then told to get in the back of their car, and still believing that the man was with the police, he did as he was told. Once he was inside the car, he was handcuffed and threatened at gun point.
Dixon feared for his life as he was driven westwards down the M20 motorway and transferred into a white van.
Meanwhile, at his home, his wife and young son had also been taken hostage and were being held at gunpoint. The family were eventually taken to the same place, where Dixon was told that any failure in assisting with their robbery would end with his family getting severely hurt.
The Robbery
The Dixon family were driven to the depot with seven armed men, who were in possession of a whole host of guns, including handguns, shotguns and Ak-47s.
They, along with the staff who were working in the depot, were bound by the robbers whilst the robbery was carried out.
It took around an hour and 45 minutes to clear a massive chunk of the depot, before they locked their hostages in cash cages and made a getaway with the £54m of bank notes.
Luckily, a member of the staff still had a key on their person, and they were able to free everyone else from the cages once they were certain that they were safe.
Arrests
The officers in charge of investigating The Securitas Depot Robbery made their first arrest only days later. It didn’t take much longer to connect the robbery to more people, and by Saturday 25th February, two more people had been arrested.
A long investigation followed with even more arrests, but the results satisfied those who were kidnapped during the heist. Six men were put before the courts, and between them they got sentenced to a total of 156 years in prison.
Months after the trial, a man who had fled to Morocco shortly after the robbery was jailed for ten years, which was later extended to 25 years.
Lee Murray escaped to North Africa days after the heist and claimed nationality, due to his father being Moroccan. He had previously been able to avoid extradition to the UK during the other trials, so it was a huge relief when he was finally prosecuted for his part in the robbery.
Whilst we enjoy reading about these crazy robberies of the past, it isn’t something we want to hear about happening to any of our readers. Here at AFS Security, our ultimate priority is to keep you safe by making sure that your home or office has the best security equipment possible. If you want to improve your property’s safety and are looking for a locksmith in Kent or the surrounding areas, please contact us today by calling 0208 471 9000 to speak to a member of our team.
