Five men found guilty over Britain's biggest-ever cash raid

Jan 28, 2008, 19:36 GMT

London - Five men who staged Britain's biggest armed cash raid on a security depot two years ago were convicted of robbery and kidnapping by a court in London Monday.

They were found guilty over a spectacular heist at a Securitas depot in Tonbridge in Kent, southern Britain, which netted 53 million pounds (100 million dollars), in February, 2006.

The heavily armed and masked robbers took depot manager Colin Dixon, his wife and young child hostage to gain entry to the depot and repeatedly threatened to kill them.

Posing as police officers, two of the men stopped Dixon's car on his way home, took him to an isolated house and then tricked his wife and son into coming with them saying Dixon had had a car accident.

They also tied up 14 terrified Securitas workers at the depot.

Police recovered nearly 21 million pounds of the stolen cash at various locations in southern Britain, but the rest is believed to have made its way to Cyprus and Morocco, the court heard.

The court was told that the gang were provided with sophisticated prosthetic disguises, normally used in the world of theatre and cinema, by hairdresser Michelle Hogg.

Hogg was initially in the dock alongside those who planned and carried out the robbery but agreed to become the star prosecution witness when all charges against her were dropped.

The five will be sentenced Tuesday following a seven-month trial that cost and estimated 16 million pounds.