Man Jailed for £53m Securitas Roberry

2 June 2010, 05:37 | Updated: 2 June 2010, 11:05

A Kent man's been sentenced to 10 years in jail in Morocco for his part in the £53m robbery at a Securitas depot in Tonbridge.

Lee Murray, 30, from Sidcup fled to the country and couldn't be extradited.

Police in Kent have been working with authorities in Morocco to ensure that Murray was held to account for the part he played in Britain's biggest cash robbery.

Kent Police's Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Mick Judge said: "I'm pleased Murray will now begin serving a significant prison sentence for his part in the Tonbridge robbery.

"Officers investigating the £53m robbery have put six men before the courts in the UK and they have been sentenced to a total of 156 years imprisonment. 

"We must not forget the traumatic experience the Dixons and the Securitas employees went through that night in 2006 - held at gunpoint and fearing for their lives.  I'm pleased that Murray, who played a key role in the conspiracy to kidnap the Dixons and rob the depot, has now been held accountable."

In October 2009, 31 year old Paul Allen was sentenced to 18 years at Woolwich Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to possess a firearm.

Allen pleaded guilty on the basis that he was not at the depot on the day of the robbery or part of the gang who kidnapped the Dixons.

Paul Allen was arrested on 26 June 2006 in Rabat in respect of domestic offences. These criminal proceedings had to be concluded before extradition could take place. Allen was extradited back to this country in 2008.

The robbers kidnapped manager of the depot Colin Dixon and his family in order to gain access to the Securitas depot in Tonbridge on the night of Tuesday 21 February in 2006.

Held at gunpoint the Dixons, and 14 other Securitas employees, were forced to cooperate with the robbers whilst they loaded £53m, in old and new notes, from the depot into a 7.5 tonne lorry.  The men forcibly locked the Dixons and the employees into money cages before escaping in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Immediately a team from Kent Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit launched a full scale investigation that quickly uncovered the gang's involvement. A team of 100 police officers and support staff were assigned to the inquiry and within two weeks vehicles and equipment used in the robbery had been recovered along with over £21m in cash and a number of people had been charged and remanded in custody.