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Huge heist: Gang 'disguised'
27/06/2007 20:37 - (SA)
London - The suspects accused of carrying out a £53m heist at a cash depot were able to get past "bunker-style" security using "kidnap, disguise and threat", the Old Bailey heard on Tuesday.
The gang behind Britain's biggest robbery got away with their haul from the Securitas Depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in February last year despite a high level of protection, the jury was told.
"The design of the building is aimed at deterring attack," said prosecutor John Nutting.
There were no windows, save small, hardened glass portals to allow control room staff to see those entering and exiting, the depot was surrounded by a high steel fence and there were "air locks" used to transfer cash between vehicles and the building.
There was also an extensive CCTV system in place.
Nutting said the depot, which operated 24 hours a day, was used by large retailers and supermarkets as well as high street banks.
It also held at any time "substantial sums of money belonging to the Bank of England", he told the court.
In order to get round the security, a sophisticated array of hidden body cameras was used by an insider, who prosecutors say was Ermir Hysenaj, which were used to identify the depot's inside layout.
Nutting also told the court that one of the accused, Lea Rusha, was accidentally recorded on a mobile phone discussing reconnaissance of the depot.
The court has heard that the gang, driven by "greed, pure and simple", had kidnapped the depot's manager Colin Dixon, along with his wife and their young child at gunpoint in order to carry out the robbery.
The kidnappers, wearing prosthetic masks to disguise their features, had pretended to be policemen.
Police have so far recovered £21m of the stolen haul but the rest remains outstanding.
John Fowler, Michelle Hogg, Hysenaj, Stuart Royle, Lea Rusha, Jetmir Bucpapa and Roger Coutts are all accused of conspiracy to kidnap the Dixons, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to possess a firearm.
An eighth defendant, Keith Borer, is accused of handling stolen goods - £6 100 suspected of having been taken from Securitas.
They deny all charges and the trial continues.
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