Securitas Depot Robbery - Investigation and Arrests

Investigation and Arrests

Securitas and their insurers offered a reward of £2 million for information leading to the thieves' capture.

On 23 February 2006 at around 19:00 police confirmed the arrest in Forest Hill, South London of a man aged 29 and a woman aged 31, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery. There were thought to be at least six armed robbers involved. On the same day, a 41-year-old woman was arrested at the Portman Building Society branch in Bromley in South London by the Metropolitan Police. The woman was moved to a police station in Kent to be questioned by detectives on suspicion of handling stolen goods. According to some news reports she was dressed as a Salvation Army nurse and apparently tried to deposit £6,000 cash bound in tape marked "Tonbridge".

As the investigation progressed, police traced a number of the vehicles involved in the robbery including a Parcelforce van thought to have been used in the abduction of the depot manager and his family. The van was found abandoned at the "Hook and Hatchet" pub in the village of Hucking, near Maidstone. A Volvo S60 and a red Vauxhall Vectra also thought to have been used (and made to look like unmarked police cars) in the abductions were found in the village of Leeds, near Leeds Castle overnight on 23 February 2006. The Volvo had apparently been set alight. On the same day Colin Dixon's Nissan Almera was also found in the car park of the "Cock Horse" pub in Detling.

The next day, Kent Police recovered a white Ford Transit van from the car park of the Ashford International Hotel. The van was found after a tip-off from a member of the public. The van and its contents were taken away from the hotel for forensic examination, and on 26 February 2006, it was announced that the van contained £1.3 million, along with guns, balaclavas and body armour.

Metal cages and packaging material that may have been used to transport the money were recovered in a field near Detling on 24 February 2006.

On the evening of 25 February 2006, forensic teams, accompanied by armed police officers, also raided a house in Southborough near Tunbridge Wells. On the afternoon of the next day, Kent Police challenged two men who subsequently fled in a blue BMW 3 Series coupe on Marine Parade in Tankerton, near Whitstable. Police marksmen then appeared to shoot out at least one tyre bringing the car to a halt and subsequently arresting the driver and one other man nearby. Other reports have suggested the police may have in fact used a "stinger" device.

On 27 February 2006, two individuals were detained by police in the Greenwich area of London by armed officers. The following day, the white 7.5 ton Renault Midlum lorry allegedly used to transport the stolen money was eventually recovered by police at an undisclosed location. Simultaneously, Kent police raided Elderden Farm in the Staplehurst area, apparently conducting extensive forensic searches of the surrounding land and buildings and seizing vehicles. Searches of local wells were also undertaken by police divers. The farm was owned by a local car dealer who could not be located at the time of the raid. A further arrest also took place of a woman who became the twelfth person detained during the investigation, most of whom have subsequently been released on bail.

Late on 1 March 2006, Kent Police confirmed that John Fowler (a car dealer and the owner of Elderden Farm) had been charged with conspiracy to rob Securitas and three charges of kidnapping; Stuart Royle had been charged with conspiracy to rob; and Kim Shackleton had been charged with handling stolen goods. They appeared at Maidstone Magistrates' Court on 2 March, and were remanded in custody until 13 March, when they appeared at Maidstone Crown Court. Jetmir Bucpapa was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery the next day, and Lea John Rusha was charged with the same offence on the day after that. Both appeared in court on 3 March and were remanded in custody until a preliminary hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on the 13th. Also on 2 March, during a raid on an industrial depot in Welling, a currently unknown amount of cash was discovered, and a further arrest was made. It has been reported that the amount of money is several million pounds. A further arrest was made in the Bexley area of London on Saturday 4 March in connection with the robbery. The man was subsequently released on bail bringing the total number of arrests at that stage to seventeen.

By 6 March police had recovered £11m as a result of various raids and forensic searches. The next day, two employees of a firm that had been contracted by Securitas were arrested. By 9 March police had recovered £19.7m as a result of various raids and searches.

On 25 June 2006, in a joint operation with Moroccan police, four men were arrested at a shopping centre in the Souissi district of the capital Rabat. Kent Police said in a statement that they had been tracking Lee Murray, a 26-year-old from Sidcup, South London, for three months. Murray was arrested with friend Paul "The Enforcer" Allen, whom police wish to interview, but on whom there is not presently sufficient evidence to charge. There is no treaty between the UK and Morocco, which made this difficult. Later Moroccan police revealed that Murray had also been charged with possession of "hard drugs". An officer said this could complicate extradition proceedings because in theory Murray would have to serve time in Morocco first for any offences committed there. Kent Police confirmed Murray's arrest the next day, and also stated that over 30 people had now been arrested in conjunction with the investigation. By year's end, the investigation costs for the Kent police had swelled to £6 million, with aid requested from the Home Office towards their investigation cost.

In February 2007, Sean Lupton, who had been released on bail, was missing having failed to answer the conditions of his bail. Also in February 2007 it was reported that one of the suspects, Lee Murray, detained in Morocco, could be returned to Britain in exchange for suspected terrorist Mohamed Karbouzi, who is wanted for questioning by the Moroccan authorities in connection with the 2003 Casablanca bombings.