Brink's-Mat robbery
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The Brink's-Mat robbery occurred at the Heathrow International Trading Estate,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, United Kingdom, on 26 November 1983. £26 million (equivalent to £ in ) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was
stolen Stolen may refer to: * ''Stolen'' (2009 Australian film), a 2009 Australian film * ''Stolen'' (2009 American film), a 2009 American film * ''Stolen: The Baby Kahu Story'' (2010 film), a film based on the real life kidnapping of baby Kahu Durie ...
from a warehouse. The bullion was the property of
Johnson Matthey Johnson Matthey is a British multinational speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Early years Jo ...
Bankers Ltd, which collapsed the following year after making large loans to fraudsters and insolvent firms. Two men were
convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is co ...
, and the majority of the gold has never been recovered. Insurers
Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...
paid out for the losses, and several shooting deaths have been linked to the case.


Robbery

The Brink's-Mat robbery occurred at 06:40 am on 26 November 1983 when six robbers broke into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, Unit 7 of the Heathrow International Trading Estate near Heathrow Airport in
West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...
, England. It was described as "the crime of the century". The gang gained entry to the warehouse from security guard Anthony Black, who was in on the robbery. Once inside, they poured petrol over the staff and threatened them with a lit match if they did not reveal the combination numbers of the vault. The robbers thought that they were going to steal £3.2 million in cash, but they found of gold bullion and stole £26 million (equivalent to £ million in ) worth of gold, diamonds, and cash.


Arrests

Two days after the robbery, a couple saw a white-hot
crucible A crucible is a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. While crucibles were historically usually made from clay, they can be made from any material that withstands te ...
operating in a garden hut at a neighbour's property near Bath,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
. Suspecting it to be linked to the bullion robbery, they immediately informed the police. The police arrived and were shown the hut, but they said it was just beyond their jurisdiction and stated that they would pass the information on to the police responsible for that area. The couple were never asked to give a statement to police or give evidence in court. No explanation has been given for the police's failure to follow up immediately on the tip-off. Fourteen months later the premises were raided and the furnace was found. The occupier John Palmer, a local
jeweller A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabricat ...
and bullion dealer, was arrested. In court, Palmer said he was unaware the gold was linked to the robbery and he was cleared of all charges. One of the robbers, Brian Robinson, was caught after security guard insider Black, his brother-in-law, passed his name to investigating officers. He was arrested in December 1983. The
police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
quickly discovered the family connection and Black confessed to
aiding and abetting Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally allo ...
the raiders, providing them with a key to the main door, and giving them details of security measures. Micky McAvoy had entrusted part of his share to associates Brian Perry and George Francis. Perry recruited
Kenneth Noye Kenneth James Noye (born 24 May 1947) is an English criminal most recently sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Stephen Cameron in a road rage incident while on licence from prison in 1996. He was arrested in Spain two years later and c ...
, who was an expert in his field, to dispose of the gold. Noye melted down the bullion and recast it for sale, mixing in copper coins to disguise the source. However, the sudden movement of large amounts of money through a
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
bank came to the notice of the Bank of England, which informed the police. Noye was placed under police surveillance. In January 1985, he killed a police officer, DC John Fordham, whom he had discovered in his garden. At the resulting trial, the jury found him not guilty.


Convictions

Tried at the Old Bailey in December 1984, McAvoy was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for armed robbery. Black was sentenced to six years. In 1986, Noye was found guilty of conspiracy to
handle A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following tr ...
the Brink's-Mat gold, fined £500,000, plus £200,000 costs, and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He served seven years before being released in 1994. George Francis was later murdered and McAvoy was thought to be a suspect. Attempts by McAvoy to strike a deal to give back his share of the money in exchange for a reduced sentence failed, as by then the money had vanished. In January 1995, the High Court ordered McAvoy to make a payment of £27,488,299, making him responsible for the entire sum stolen. He was released from prison in 2000. In 1996, Noye murdered motorist Stephen Cameron during a
road rage Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by motorists. These behaviors include rude and verbal insults, yelling, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted at other drivers, pedestrians or cyclists in an effort to intimi ...
incident. Arrested in Spain and
extradite Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...
d, he was convicted of Cameron's murder in 2000 for which he received a
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...
.


Recovery


Gold

Much of the three tonnes of stolen gold has never been recovered and the other four robbers were never convicted. In 1996, about half of the gold, the portion which had been melted and recast, was thought to have found its way back into the legitimate gold market, including the reserves of the true owners, Johnson Matthey. According to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, some have claimed that anyone wearing gold jewellery bought in the UK after 1983 is probably wearing Brink's-Mat.


Counterfeit stolen gold bars

On 21 December 1983, less than four weeks after the robbery, police in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
arrested five men, four Italians and an Austrian, at a
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
hotel. Police also recovered ten bullion bars bearing the refiner's mark and serial numbers of bars stolen in the Brink's-Mat robbery. According to the police spokesman, the bars were gold-coated
tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...
counterfeits, and therefore could not be Johnson Matthey's stolen gold bars. He said that the arrested men planned to fraudulently claim they were from the Heathrow robbery. No explanation was given as to how the counterfeiters obtained the unpublished bar serial numbers, nor the likely benefit of counterfeiting stolen property in this way.


Panama Papers

Gordon Parry laundered large amounts of cash from the robbery after the disposal of the gold according to the Panama Papers, which show an offshore financial intermediary firm in
Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...
named Centre Services requested Mossack Fonseca set up a Panamanian company 12 months after the Heathrow raid on behalf of an unnamed client. Under Parry's direction millions of pounds were put through the resulting Feberion and other front companies via banks in Switzerland,
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...
, Jersey and the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...
. A man identified as depositing £500,000 in cash to the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank is thought to have been notorious armed robber David Moore. Two nominee directors from
Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of ...
were appointed to Feberion and the company then issued two
bearer shares A bearer instrument is a document that entitles the holder of the document to rights of ownership or title to the underlying property, such as shares or bonds. Unlike normal registered instruments, no record is kept of who owns bearer instruments ...
. Parry used the offshore firms and recycled the funds, said to have amounted to £10.7 million, through transactions involving land in London Docklands, some buildings that used to form part of Cheltenham Ladies' College, a farmhouse in Kent for McAvoy's girlfriend Kathleen Meacock and a £400,000 home for himself and his family, Crockham House, near
Chartwell Chartwell is a country house near Westerham, Kent, in South East England. For over forty years it was the home of Winston Churchill. He bought the property in September 1922 and lived there until shortly before his death in January 1965. In t ...
,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. The Metropolitan Police raided the offices of Centre Services in late 1986 in cooperation with the Jersey authorities, seized papers and the two Feberion bearer shares. In 1987, Jürgen Mossack, the law firm's principal, regained control of the company by dilution. Parry appointed a fresh set of Feberion directors, who were instructed to issue 98 new shares to Western Cross Inc, a front company controlled by Parry or his associates. In 1995, Brink's-Mat solicitors finally took control of Feberion and its assets. Crockham House was sold, and reacquired by Parry's wife, Irene Beaumont.


Collapse of Johnson Matthey Bankers Ltd

On 30 September 1984, less than a year after the Brink's-Mat robbery, the banking and gold-trading arm of Johnson Matthey (Johnson Matthey Bankers Ltd) collapsed and was taken over by the Bank of England to protect the integrity of the London gold markets. Losses amounted to over US$300 million. The bank had made very large loans to fraudsters and insolvent businesses over several years, and had serious and unexplained gaps in its records. The fraud squad was called in to investigate the bank and certain customers.


"Curse"

The so-called "Curse of Brink's-Mat" or "Curse of the Brink's-Mat millions" refers to the shooting deaths of several men who were allegedly involved. These deaths were thought by members of the London criminal underworld to be related to laundering of the gold. * In 1990, the former treasurer of the Great Train Robbery, Charlie Wilson, had moved to
Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...
, Spain, where he was suspected of being involved in
drug smuggling The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...
. Engaged to launder some of the proceeds from the Brink's-Mat robbery, he lost the investors' £3 million. On 23 April 1990 Wilson was shot dead. * Donald Urquhart was one of the launderers of the proceeds of the robbery; he was shot dead in January 1993 on Marylebone High Street in Central London. The supergrass Kenneth Regan assisted police with information about Urquhart's murder. Graeme West was subsequently jailed for Urquhart's killing, as was his accomplice Geoffrey Heath, who planned the murder. * On 5 December 1998, Hatton Garden jeweler Solly Nahome was shot dead outside his home. Nahome was a "financer" and associate of the
Adams family The Adams family was a prominent political family in the United States from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries. Based in eastern Massachusetts, they formed part of the Boston Brahmin community. The family traces to Henry Adams of Bar ...
, who were also suspected of being involved in the laundering of the Brink's-Mat gold. Prior to his murder, Nahome's associate and jeweller Gilbert Wynter had disappeared from the home that he shared with his girlfriend on 9 March 1998. It was thought that Nahome and Wynter were murdered over the disappearance of £800,000 from a cannabis deal while it was suspected that a rival gang murdered Nahome and Wynter to cause disruption. * In mid-2001, Brian Perry was shot dead. * On 14 May 2003, George Francis was shot dead by John O'Flynn outside Francis' courier business in
Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...
. Francis was a former associate of the
Krays Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...
and was believed to be involved in the laundering of the gold. Francis had survived an attempt on his life when he was shot in the shoulder near a pub that he ran in
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
in May 1985 after allegedly failing to pay £100,000 to have a jury acquit Lennie "Teddy Bear" Watkins, who was on trial for the murder of Peter Bennett, a customs investigator who was shot by Watkins in a struggle. * On 24 June 2015, John "Goldfinger" Palmer was shot dead.


In popular culture

* In 1992, a made-for-
television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
called ''Fool's Gold'' based on the robbery was released with McAvoy portrayed by
Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...
. * On 4 November 2003,
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
broadcast a documentary on the events of the raid. * In 2007, Will Pearson published the book "Death Warrant: Kenneth Noye, the Brink's-Mat Robbery And The Gold" that provides a captivating account of the heist, chase and convictions as well as personal tragedies and ironies of the events. * In 2010, another documentary was broadcast on the Crime Network. * On 4 February 2017 Channel 5 aired a new documentary updating events, including the death of John Palmer. In the new documentary first-hand accounts from the security guards were given who were on shift the morning of the robbery as well as from officers on the case. * On 1 April 2017
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
aired a drama, ''The
Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourit ...
Heist'', which included the events of the Brink's-Mat robbery. *In 2022,
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
aired ''The Curse'', written by the producers and writers of the TV series, ''
People Just Do Nothing ''People Just Do Nothing'' is a British television mockumentary sitcom, created and performed by Allan Mustafa, Steve Stamp, Asim Chaudhry and Hugo Chegwin. The programme follows the lives of MC Grindah, DJ Beats and their friends, who run K ...
'', fictionalising aspects of the Brink's-Mat robbery.


See also

*
List of heists in the United Kingdom A heist is a theft of cash or valuable objects such as artworks, jewellery or bullion. This can take the form of either a burglary or a robbery, the difference in English and Welsh law being that a robbery uses force (which means that some of ...


References

{{reflist, 30em 1983 crimes in the United Kingdom 1983 in London 1980s crimes in London 1980s trials Bank robberies November 1983 crimes November 1983 events in the United Kingdom Organised crime events in the United Kingdom Organised crime in London Robberies in London Robbery trials Trials in London