The gang behind Britain's largest robbery face the possibility of life sentences after being convicted on Monday at the end of a seven-month trial at the Old Bailey criminal court in London. Police are still trying to trace more than half of the ?53 million stolen in an audacious raid on a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, almost two years ago, and some key members of the gang are still at large.
The jury returned their verdicts after 36 hours of deliberation over eight days and convicted Lea Rusha, Stuart Royle, Roger Coutts, Emir Hysenaj and Jetmir Bucpapa of conspiracy to kidnap and rob. The diverse team of criminals from south London, Kent and Albania will be sentenced today after pleas of mitigation have been made on their behalf.
Royle, who has not been attending the trial and has remained in his cell in Belmarsh prison after dismissing his defense team, was being asked last night if he wanted to attend today's sentencing.
Two other defendants, John Fowler, who was also charged with conspiracy, and Keith Borer, who was charged with handling stolen goods, were both acquitted. Michelle Hogg, the hairdresser who made the disguises used by the robbers, was acquitted last year and gave evidence against her former co-defendants. She is now under a witness protection scheme.
The gang received the verdicts impassively, after the trial judge, Justice Penry-Davey, warned the court that the jury's decision was to be received in silence. Some of the robbers shook hands with Fowler after he was cleared. Bucpapa, the young Albanian who was a key figure in the plot, laughed and smiled. The judge excused the jury from ever serving again.
Outside the court, Superintendent Paul Gladstone of Kent police, which spent ?5 million on the investigation, welcomed the verdict.
"I am extremely satisfied with the results," he said. "It was an extremely complex case."
"This crime was, at its heart, a crime of violence," Nigel Pilkington of the Crown Prosecution Service said.
He paid tribute to the Securitas depot manager, Colin Dixon, and his wife, Lynn, who with their child were kidnapped and held at gun-point so that the robbery could go ahead.
"The events of that night will no doubt stay with those people for the rest of their lives," said Pilkington of the Dixons and the 14 Securitas employees who were also in fear of their lives during the robbery. He added that attempts to reclaim almost ?32 million still missing from the raid would continue.
"This is not the end of the matter for these criminals," he said. "We intend to seize their ill-gotten gains, wherever they may be."
Roger Coe-Salazar, who headed the Kent prosecution service team, said of the conspiracy: "It was very clever in parts and very naive in others. There were some very sophisticated preparations and some very silly mistakes, but it's quite wrong for it to end up being romanticized in an Ocean's 12 way. There is nothing romantic about a child being held at gunpoint by a masked man."
Borer, who was also acquitted, said that he had been unable to sleep for the past week during the jury's deliberations.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS