FOR wannabe robbers the bank job is getting harder to pull off than their
clingy stocking face-mask.
Hi-tech security measures have seen the number of raids on our banks drop
by 90 PER CENT in a decade. The British Bankers’ Association say there were
66 robberies in 2011, compared with 847 in 1992.
BBA boss Anthony Browne said: “Banks are working hard to confine armed
robberies to the world of TV dramas. Being caught up in a bank job is a
terrifying ordeal. It’s great to see that the number of these crimes has
fallen sharply.”
British bank robberies have ranged from the ruthless to the ridiculous.
Here AMY JONES rounds up eight of the most infamous heists.
Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery (1987), London — £60million
THIS audacious heist was masterminded by Valerio Viccei — a lawyer’s son
wanted for 50 armed robberies in his native Italy, who decided to have a
crack at England.
On July 12, 1987, he made off with £60million from the Knightsbridge Safe
Deposit Centre in central London — worth £110million today.
Using security guard uniforms, metal-cutting equipment and walkie-talkies —
and helped by the owner — Viccei’s gang cleared 114 boxes in less than two
hours.
But a bloody fingerprint from the crime scene was traced to Viccei. After ten
years in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, he was deported to Italy to
serve the rest of his 22-year sentence. In April 2010, on day release from
prison, he died in a shootout with police.
Northern Bank robbery (2004), Belfast – £26.4million
A GANG of armed men disguised as police officers visited the homes of two
Northern Bank executives — Chris Ward and Kevin McMullan — on Sunday,
December 19, 2004, and held their families at gunpoint.
The officials were told to go to work as usual the next day, stay after
closing and let the gang in. If not, their families would be killed.
Both men complied and the criminals got away with £10million of uncirculated
Northern Bank sterling banknotes, £5.5million of used Northern Bank sterling
notes, £4.5million of circulated sterling notes issued by other banks and
more than £6million in other currencies. Irish £20 notes were recalled to
help the search for the stolen ones.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland — along with the British and Irish
Governments — claimed the IRA was involved. This was denied by Sinn Fein. To
this day, the robbers remain unknown.
Baker Street Bank robbery (1971), London – £3million
THIS famous heist also blew the lid off a royal sex scandal.
Thieves tunnelled into the vault of Lloyds Bank on Baker Street and looted in
excess of £3million, which, in 1971, made it the largest-ever bank heist the
UK had ever seen.
It became known as the “walkie-talkie bank job” because of a fluke tip-off
from a member of the public, a radio ham who had overheard the robbers
plotting on a two-way radio.
After three days of headline news, the Government allegedly issued a D-Notice,
forbidding the Press to report on the heist as a matter of national
security. Then there was silence.
But 2008 film The Bank Job, starring Jason Statham, suggested that sexually
compromising photos of Princess Margaret were taken from the vault, and it
was covered-up by MI5.
At the time of the raid her marriage to Lord Snowdon was on the rocks and she
would often retreat to the Caribbean island of Mustique, where she was
snapped with her lover Roddy Llewellyn. The movie hinted that even more
outrageous photos were kept under wraps.
Bank of America robbery (1975), London – £8million
IN November 1976 seven men were jailed for nearly 100 years in total for their
part in a raid on a Mayfair branch of the bank.
The gang had an inside man, Stuart Buckley, an electrician at the bank. In
court he said they had previously tried unsuccessfully to drill through the
vault’s lock.
Buckley finally obtained the vault’s combination by hiding in the roof space
above the door and peering through a hole in the ceiling as officials opened
it.
The alleged mastermind, identified by police as Frank Maple, fled to Morocco
and has never been found. Only £500,000 was ever recovered.
Securitas depot robbery (2006), Kent – £53,116,760
AS he drove home on February 21, 2006, men posing as police officers kidnapped
Colin Dixon, the manager of the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, which handled
used cash for the Bank of England.
Mr Dixon’s wife and young child were also being held hostage and the gang said
unless he did what he was told he would never see them again. In the early
hours of the following morning all three members of the Dixon family were
taken to the Kent depot at gunpoint, where the 14 members of staff were tied
up. Less than two hours later the gang fled with more than £53million in
cash.
Of the seven robbers, five were jailed — two remain on the run.
Loughton incinerator thefts (1988-1992), Essex – £600,000
BETWEEN 1988 and 1992 four employees of the Bank of England’s incinerator
plant conspired to nick more than £600,000 worth of banknotes that were due
to be burned.
Team leader Christine Gibson often smuggled the notes out by stuffing them in
her undies. Gibson, Kenneth Longman, Michael Nairne and Kevin Winwright
spent their stolen money on expensive houses, foreign holidays, jewellery
and fast cars.
Only Winwright was jailed. The others escaped criminal convictions because no
witnesses would speak to police.
Midland Bank Clearing Centre (1995), Salford – £6.6million
ON July 3, 1995, a gang ambushed a Securicor van at the Midland Bank Clearing
Centre in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Using violence, they forced the van’s driver, Graham Huckerby, to let them in
and drove off with their £6.6million haul.
Mr Huckerby was later accused of being an “inside man” and was convicted in
2002, along with another man, and jailed for 14 years. Both men’s
convictions were quashed in December 2004. The robbery remains unsolved.
Barclays cyber-raid (2013), London – £1.3million
HACKERS remotely stole £1.3million from the Swiss Cottage branch of Barclays
in April this year.
It is claimed that a bogus repairman planted a “keyboard video mouse” on a PC
inside the bank and this device let hackers steal staff passwords and then
transfer funds remotely to other accounts.
Four men have been charged. A trial date is yet to be set.
How banks are foiling raiders
SMART WATER: Devices explode when an unauthorised person enters the
room, covering the intruder with smoke laced with artificial DNA that coats
the skin and clothing. It is detectable on skin and hair for weeks and on
clothing indefinitely – providing a link to the scene of the crime.
TIME-DELAY SAFES: A timer prevents a safe being opened before a pre-set
time – even if the correct combination is known. Invented to stop thugs
torturing people to get the combination.
SMOKE CLOAK: This immediately fills a room with thick, non-toxic fog.
If a burglar can’t see, he can’t steal.
VIBRATION SENSORS: Sensors installed into the roof and walls of a bank
can detect anyone digging through from another building. In the 1971 Baker
Street heist thieves rented Le Sac, a leather goods shop two doors down, and
tunnelled in.
FAST-RISING SECURITY SCREENS: These provide bullet-proof protection
within half a second of activation.
EXPLODING DYE PACKS: A radio-controlled incendiary device causes stolen
cash to be permanently marked with dye soon after it is taken, making it
useless and traceable.