The Loughton incinerator thefts occurred between 1988 and 1992 at the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

's incinerator plant at Debden in

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

, Essex – four employees of the plant stole more than in a series of regular thefts. The four participants and their spouses were arrested in 1992, with only one being prosecuted in criminal court. In a civil suit, the remaining members of the group were ordered to repay half a million pounds to the bank. The story of the case has been adapted into two feature-length films.

Thefts

Between 1988 and 1992, four employees of the

's incinerator plant at Debden in

, Essex, conspired to steal around £600,000 in banknotes that were due to be destroyed, in a series of thefts. They changed padlocks on locked doors in order to be able to steal from piles of notes which had been taken out of circulation. One participant, Christine Gibson, smuggled the notes out of the plant by stuffing them into her underwear. Gibson initially worked in collaboration with just two other employees, Kenneth Longman and Michael Nairne, before the trio were approached and joined by a fourth individual, Kevin Winwright, who acted as their "look-out" and distracted the guards. During this time, the group and their spouses lived a " life of Riley", spending their gains on expensive cars, motorcycles and jewellery.

Arrest and trial

The criminal gang was brought to the attention of the police after Gibson's husband, Peter, attempted to make a deposit of £100,000 at the Ilford branch of the Reliance Mutual Insurance Society entirely in £20 and £50 notes. Nairne also attempted to make a deposit of £30,000 at the same branch. All four colleagues and their respective partners were soon arrested, but only Winwright was prosecuted – he admitted to stealing £170,000 from the plant and received an 18-month prison sentence. The six remaining participants were then sued by the Bank of England at the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...

in April 1994. The civil case, ''Bank of England v Gibson'', was overseen by Judge Norman Rudd, with Winwright giving evidence on behalf of the bank. After a two-week trial, Rudd delivered his judgment on 26 April 1994, ordering the three families to repay more than half a million pounds to the bank. As no witnesses who had given evidence in the High Court were willing to speak to the police, all three couples escaped criminal convictions. The Bank of England finally closed the case in 2018.

Film adaptations

The story of the thefts was adapted into two films: first in 2001 as ''

Hot Money In economics, hot money is the flow of funds (or capital) from one country to another in order to earn a short-term profit on interest rate differences and/or anticipated exchange rate shifts. These speculative capital flows are called "hot money" b ...

'', a television movie made for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

starring

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

, then again as ''

Mad Money ''Mad Money'' is an American finance television program hosted by Jim Cramer that began airing on CNBC on March 14, 2005. Its main focus is investment and speculation, particularly in public company stocks. Cramer defines "mad money" as th ...

'', a 2008 film based on ITV's production, starring

Diane Keaton Diane Keaton ('' née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Gl ...

Similar crime

A similar crime was committed in 2000, when two bank clerks stole 110 sacks of notes valued at £23,000 that were due to be incinerated – the two participants were sent to prison for six and nine months.

References

External links