Man remanded on £53m heist charges

Paul Allen, from Chatham, Kent, did not enter a plea to the 14 charges he faces in relation to the UK's biggest cash robbery, when he appeared at Maidstone Magistrates' Court.

He was remanded in custody to appear at the Central Criminal Court on February 8.

Wearing a grey tracksuit and black jacket, Allen was flanked by armed guards as the 14 charges against him were read out.

Allen is charged with one charge of conspiracy to rob an employee of Securitas, three charges of conspiracy to kidnap, six charges of possessing an illegal firearm, one charge of robbery and three charges of kidnap between July 1, 2005 and February 23, 2006.

Later, the government of Northern Cyprus issued an "open invitation" to British police to travel there to investigate the whereabouts of proceeds from the robbery.

Deputy prime minister Turgay Avci insisted the country had been unfairly portrayed as a "fugitive's paradise" amid claims one of the Tonbridge Securitas heist suspects was there.

Dr Avci, who is also the unrecognised state's foreign minister, said there was no evidence Kent builder Sean Lupton was or had been in Northern Cyprus but urged British police to produce any "clues" they had.

Only £21 million of the haul has been recovered by Kent Police and there are suspicions much of the remaining cash has been secreted abroad or laundered through property deals.

Lupton was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the robbery in a dawn raid in November 2006 and had been released on bail. But he went missing in December of that year. It emerged at the time of the subsequent trial of five other men that police suspect he had made his way to the TRNC.