Afternoon:
10°c
A cage fighter who helped plan Britain's largest ever cash robbery was jailed for 18 years today after admitting his role in the plot.
Paul Allen was the trusted lieutenant of Lee "Lightning" Murray, who masterminded the £53 million robbery at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
After the hold-up in February 2006, Allen fled to Morocco with Murray, a fellow cage fighter.
The pair began enjoying a cocaine-fuelled party lifestyle in the sun, buying sumptuously-furnished villas and expensive cars.
Thousands of pounds were also spent on breast enhancement operations in England for wives and girlfriends of the men, according to court documents.
They thought they were living out their dreams, but after four months they were seized by Moroccan authorities and locked up in the rat-infested "hell hole" of Rabat prison.
Allen, an aggressive and powerfully-built, steroid-pumping fitness fanatic, spent 20 months in the jail before he was brought back to Britain to face trial.
The father-of-three claimed he knew nothing about the robbery and jurors were unable to reach a verdict after a first trial at the Old Bailey.
But Allen, 31, of Chatham, Kent, admitted charges of conspiracy to rob, kidnap and possess firearms as a re-trial was due to begin at Woolwich Crown Court.
He pleaded guilty on the basis that he was not one of the robbers who entered the depot, or one of the kidnappers, and that he did not handle any firearms.
The basis of plea also maintained that he was doing the bidding of Murray and his only benefit was the property in Morocco.
Murray, said to have been the mastermind behind the robbery, will not face British justice.
The 30-year-old, from Sidcup, south east London, claimed nationality in Morocco because his father was born there and authorities in the north African country turned down an extradition request, although he remains behind bars.
Murray, a Ferrari-driving martial arts star, masterminded the Securitas heist just five months after he was nearly killed in a knife attack outside a star-studded West End party.
Police have recovered £21 million of the cash haul and are still hunting for the rest, with recent inquiries focusing on a country in the Middle East.
The robbery was planned and executed with military precision. Depot manager Colin Dixon, his wife and young child were kidnapped to allow the gang to gain entry, and 14 staff members were terrorised and tied up at gunpoint as the robbers stuffed cash into a 7.5-ton lorry in the 66-minute raid.
Plans are under way to make a Hollywood film about the robbery.
Kick boxer Lea Rusha, car salesman Stuart Royle, unemployed Albanian Jetmir Bucpapa and garage owner Roger Coutts were all jailed indefinitely last year with minimum terms of 15 years after being convicted of taking part.
Inside man Emir Hysenaj, an Albanian, who filmed inside the depot using a miniature camera, was given 20 years.
Reader views (1)
I'd like to see them try to fight their way out of this!
- Nowan King, London, 06/10/2009 12:14
Report abuse
