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10 Most Famous Robberies in the United Kingdom.

Under section 8 of the Theft Act 1968, a person is guilty of robbery if he steals and at the time of doing so he uses force or fear.

The crime of robbery involves the taking of the property by violence, intimidation or threat with the intent to deprive them of it permanently.

The maximum sentence for robbery in the UK is life imprisonment; however, the court considers a number of options before the appropriate sentence is decided.

The court will also consider whether the offender should be classified as a ‘dangerous’ person.

Despite all the above information, there are still those daredevils who plan and execute robberies that have been captured in our imaginations. Here is a look at 10 famous robberies in the UK.

1. Securitas Bank Depot Robbery- 拢53 million

Photo by  British Museum –

In the early morning hours of February 22, 2006, a gang of at least six men,  stole from the Securitas bank depot in Kent, Great Britain. It was the largest such theft in British history.

Men posing as police officers kidnapped the manager of the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, which handled cash for the Bank of England, on 21 February 2006.

Concurrently, another band of fake policemen kidnapped Dixon鈥檚 wife and 8-year-old son.

At the Securitas depot, 14 staff were bound and taken hostage. The gang filled a lorry with over 拢53 Million of banknotes and had to leave a further 拢154 million behind as they鈥檇 run out of space in their lorry.

The hostages were left locked in metal cages before fleeing the scene.

They only managed to escape when the manager鈥檚 8-year-old son was able to squeeze between the bars and retrieve the key for the cages from another staff member.  

The robbers return to Kent farm where they shared the loot and went their separate ways.

The police arrested 36 people for the act. Two of the ring leaders were caught after one accidentally recorded plans for the heist on his phone

The Securitas Depot robbery is the largest cash-only robbery in British history. It鈥檚 also the most shocking due to the lengths that the gang went.

2. The Great Train Robbery -拢2.6 million.

Poster of  The Great Train Robbery Photo by The Strobridge Lith. Co., Cincinnati & New York –

According to one 鈥淭he Ulsterman鈥�, the group set out to rob a travelling post-office train. The train was believed to be ferrying nearly 拢3 million in its high-value package carriage.

On the 8th of August 1963, a gang of 15 men stole nearly 拢2.6 million worth of notes from a post office train travelling from Glasgow to London.

The train would usually carry approximately 拢300 000 but was carrying more due to the Bank Holiday weekend.

When the train stopped at a red light signal near Ledburn in Buckinghamshire, they overpowered the driver and got him to move the train half a mile along to a bridge.

 On the high-value package carriage, they beat the staff with metal bars and proceeded to move the money via a human chain into a waiting van they only left 拢131 000 behind.

One can never be too careful, despite the farm being cleaned, the fingerprints on a ketchup bottle and on a monopoly board that the gang had used to play with real money the night after the robbery.

Most of the crew was arrested with 13 of the 17 suspects serving time in prison for the crime. 鈥淭he Ulsterman鈥� was never identified.

3. Hatton Garden Heist – 拢14m.

“The burglary at the heart of this case stands in a class of its own,” Judge Christopher Kinch said.

Even the  Hatton Garden raiders boasted that the heist was the 鈥渂iggest robbery in the fucking world鈥�.

Five of the men involved in the biggest burglary in British history have been jailed for a combined 34 years.

This is after they pleaded guilty to stealing jewels worth around 拢14m from safety deposit boxes in Hatton Garden last year of which 拢9m is still missing.

The ring leader is known only as “Basil”,  is believed to be an ex-policeman who got into security.

The thieves arrived in a van posing as gas repairmen and managed to get into the building via a fire escape, abseiled down a lift shaft and then drilled a large hole through a thick concrete wall at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company to gain access to the deposit boxes.

The raid took two days because their 10-tonne hydraulic ram was faulty, forcing them to leave and come back later, Evans said.

The plot had been three years in the making with regular planning held at The Castle pub on Pentonville Road in Islington, North London.

4. Brinks-Mat Warehouse – 拢3.2 million.

A bound security officer being rescued Photo by British Library –

On 26th November 1983, 6 men broke into the Brinks-Mat warehouse on the Heathrow International trading estate.

A security guard opened the door to the warehouse for the gang. On gaining entry they threatened the staff to give them the safe combination by dousing them in petrol and threatening to light them on fire.

Initially, the gang had targetted steal in cash from the vault but they also spirited away 3 tonnes of gold bullion as well as diamonds, ending up with a haul worth over 拢26 million.

Most of the crew evaded capture, but 2 were arrested. The gold was melted and mixed with copper to hide its true source before disposing it to the market.

The gold from the heist has never been recovered.

5.      Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre  – 拢60 million.

Safe-deposit box key by  Geo Trinity –

The year is 1986 when Italian criminal, Valerio Viccei arrived in London. After securing the help of Parvez Latif, the managing director of the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre, he began to formulate his plan.

On 12^th July 1987, 2 men entered the centre where they requested to rent a safety deposit box. They were then shown into the vault where they took out handguns and subdued the manager and security guards.

The group then broke open many of the safety deposit boxes, pocketing the contents, which was estimated to be worth around 拢60 million.

This is thought to be a conservative guess, as the owners of the security boxes may have not reported the full extent of the contents.

However, several of them were later tracked down by the authorities and arrested. Viccei on the other hand fled to Latin America, where he seemed to be safe from arrest.

It wasn鈥檛 until he returned to England to retrieve his prized Ferrari that the authorities caught up with him.

He was sentenced to 22 years in prison in April 2000. During a day release, he became involved in a gunfight and was killed by police.  

Valerio Viccei was already wanted for more than 50 robberies in Italy, Almost committed the perfect crime in London.

6. Graff  Diamond Heist 2009 – $65 million.

Jewellery by silar –

The exclusive Graff Diamonds store in New Bond Street, London, England has been known to collect the world鈥檚 most magnificent and expensive diamonds.

At 4.40 pm on August 6th 2009, two sharply dressed men posing as customers brazenly entered the store and pulled out their guns.

Over the course of the next 25 minutes, they forced the shop staff to open the display cases and made off with 43 items of jewellery worth a staggering total of $65 million.

One necklace alone was estimated to be worth more than $5.25 million. It was quite clear they knew exactly what they were looking for.

Outside the store, the robbers fired shots in the air to create confusion, and then made their getaway in a nearby waiting BMW.

They made a costly mistake that led to their capture as one of them left his cell phone wedged between the handbrake and driver鈥檚 seat. The cell phone provided vital clues that led to their arrest.

7. Bakers Street Lllody Bank Heist – 拢3 Million

Illustration showing the tunnel into Lloyds bank, Baker Street robbery, 1971 Photo by Goran tek-en –

On September 11, 1971, 拢3 Million was stolen from the vault of the Lloyds bank.

The crew rented a leather goods store 2 doors down from the bank and tunnelled 50 feet, passing under the Chicken Inn restaurant and straight into the vault.

To avoid being overheard, they dug on weekends, and once through to the vault used explosives to gain entry. 

The robbers were overheard by an amateur radio enthusiast who notified the police. The police used this information to check the 750 banks within 10 miles of the enthusiast鈥檚 receiver.

They even searched the Lloyds bank in Baker Street whilst the gang were inside. Fortunately for the thieves, the police believed the bank was secure as the security doors were still locked.

The conspiracy surrounding the Baker Street robbery is that the crime was in fact planned by MI5 to recover some compromising photographs of Princess Margaret. 

The film The Bank Job starring Jason Statham is based on the Baker Street Robbery.

8.  Security Express Heist – 拢6m

Almost 拢6m was stolen from the Security Express headquarters in Shoreditch, east London, in 1983.

Ronnie Knight, the former husband of the actress Barbara Windsor, was jailed after admitting to handling some of the proceeds. He denied taking part in the robbery.

Knight was jailed after spending 10 years in Spain, where he fled the on the night his brother, John, was arrested in 1984. John Knight was jailed for 22 years.

Robbers broke into the Security Express depot in Shoreditch, east London, and escaped with about 拢6m on Easter Monday 1983.

One of the robbers was Terence Perkins, who would later be convicted for his involvement in the Hatton Garden burglary in April 2015.

9. Mid Land Bank Clearing Centre Salford, Manchester – 拢6.6 m

By Bob Adams –

4 masked raiders carried out the biggest cash robbery since the Great Train Robbery when they ambushed a Securicor van as it arrived at the Midland Bank Clearing Centre in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 3 July 1995.

Using violence and threats they forced the van’s driver to let them in and then took over the van and drove it away. They escaped with 脗拢6.6m in cash, none of which has ever been recovered.

A crooked ex-policeman who became the “inside man” for a robbery gang has been convicted of plotting one of Europe鈥檚 biggest ever cash raids.

Armoured car driver Graham Huckerby, took a 拢1,000 bribe to let masked gunmen hijack his bullet and bomb-proof Securicor vehicle, kidnap him and steal 拢6.6m.

The heist鈥檚 inquiry took detectives to Poland, Spain and Israel.

Despite the arrests, the haul has never been recovered. 

The loot may have been too sensitive to launder in bank accounts in large amounts and could have been buried at secret locations for collection in years to come.

10. Northern Bank Robbery, Belfast, Northern Ireland 鈥� 26.4m pounds.

 Photo  by HM Revenue & Customs –

The robbery of Belfast’s Northern Bank is one of the most audacious thefts in UK history.

 Armed raiders took 拢26.5m from the vaults at the headquarters on Donegall Square, quietly loaded it into crates inside a white lorry and drove away into the night.

On December 19 2004 a group of masked and armed gang members arrived at the homes of two Northern Bank executives, Chris Ward and Kevin McMullan, in Poleglass and Loughinisland

Posing as police officers to gain entry, they held the men and their families at gunpoint. Ward was transferred to McMullen’s house while his family remained captive in their home.

Ward and McMullen asked to go to work at Donegall Square West on Monday and behave as if nothing was wrong, otherwise, their families would be killed.

When the bank closed that evening, the two men led the gang to the underground vaults and opened them.  They loaded cash in a van and drove off.

Around $100,000 in US banknotes was found in the toilet of the police athletics association’s Newforge country club. It is believed it was meant to divert attention from events elsewhere.

 To this day, the robbers themselves remain unknown.

As evident in all cases discussed here most of the robberies required an inside man and in the case where there were non they forced employees by targeting their families.

In any case, the level of planning and execution was usually meticulous.