Five men were today jailed for a total of at least 70 years after being convicted of kidnapping and robbery in Britain's biggest ever heist, a £53 million raid on a cash depot in south eastern England.
The robbers, some dressed as policemen and most wearing prosthetic disguises, snatched the record haul after getting past tight security by kidnapping the depot's manager, his wife and son at gunpoint in a crime described by the judge as "organised banditry".
They were also helped by "inside man" Ermir Hysenaj, who not only provided details of the building's interior layout and security protocols, but also secretly filmed it using a tiny camera hidden on his belt.
Despite the elaborate planning, the gang was rounded up by police within days of the February 2006 raid at the Securitas Depot in Tonbridge, Kent, after detectives received a tip-off.
Four members of the gang, Stuart Royle (49) - who refused to come to court - Jetmir Bucpapa (26), Lea Rusha (35), and Roger Coutts (30), were each sentenced to a minimum of 15 years' jail.
Hysenaj (28), will serve a minimum of 10 years.
The judge recommended that Bucpapa, an Albanian national, be deported at the end of his sentence.
All were convicted at the Old Bailey criminal court yesterday of conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to possess firearms.