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Paul Allen and Lee Murray

A cage fighter who helped plan Britain’s largest ever cash robbery has been jailed for 18 years after admitting his role in the plot.

Paul Allen was the trusted lieutenant of Lee “Lightning” Murray, who masterminded the £53 million robbery at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

Allen, 31, of Chatham, Kent, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday after admitting charges of conspiracy to rob, kidnap and possess firearms.

After the hold-up in February 2006, Allen fled to Morocco with Murray, a fellow cage fighter. The pair began enjoying a cocaine-fuelled party lifestyle in the sun, buying sumptuously-furnished villas and expensive cars.

Thousands of pounds were also spent on breast enhancement operations in England for wives and girlfriends of the men, according to court documents.

They thought they were living out their dreams, but after four months they were seized by Moroccan authorities and locked up in the rat-infested “hell hole” of Rabat prison.

Allen, an aggressive and powerfully-built, steroid-pumping fitness fanatic, spent 20 months in the jail before he was brought back to Britain to face trial.

The father-of-three claimed he knew nothing about the robbery and jurors were unable to reach a verdict after a first trial at the Old Bailey.

Allen pleaded guilty on the basis that he was not one of the robbers who entered the depot, or one of the kidnappers, and that he did not handle any firearms.

Plans are under way to make a Hollywood film about the robbery.

Credit: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091005/tuk-cage-fighter-jailed-over-heist-plot-6323e80.html

Paul Allen

A cage fighter who helped plan Britain’s biggest cash robbery is facing a lengthy jail term after admitting charges relating to the heist.

Paul Allen, 31, fled to Morocco with fellow fighter Lee Murray after the £53 million hold-up in Tonbridge, Kent.

Allen was arrested and extradited to Britain before going on trial at the Old Bailey on three charges related to the February 2006 hold-up.

Jurors were unable to agree on a verdict and he was due to face a re-trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

But Allen, of Chatham, Kent, admitted three charges of conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to rob, and conspiracy to possess firearms. He made the admissions on the basis that he was neither one of the robbers who entered the depot nor one of the kidnappers of depot manager Colin Dixon and his family. Sentencing is due to take place next Monday.

Allen’s agreed basis of plea also said that he did not handle or obtain any firearms and that he was working for Murray and “did his bidding” in the planning of the robbery. It also stated that his only benefit was property in Morocco.

Roger Coe-Salazar, chief Crown prosecutor for Kent, said: “The Securitas robbery was meticulously organised and we have never had any doubts that Paul Allen played a pivotal role in the planning and execution of it.”

Allen and Murray fled to begin a luxury lifestyle as police began rounding up their fellow conspirators. They splashed out on sumptuous villas and expensive jewellery, while thousands of pounds were also spent on plastic surgery for their wives and girlfriends.

But the men’s four-month spree of snorting cocaine, gambling in casinos and luxury shopping was to end in the rat-infested basement of a Moroccan jail. Allen spent 20 months in the Rabat “hell hole” before being extradited while Murray, whose father was Moroccan, claimed nationality to avoid British justice.

Prosecutor Sir John Nutting QC said the men planned and executed the terrifying Securitas heist with “military precision”.

A cage fighter who helped plan Britain’s largest ever cash robbery has been jailed for 18 years after admitting his role in the plot.

Paul Allen was the trusted lieutenant of Lee “Lightning” Murray, who masterminded the £53 million robbery at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

Allen, 31, of Chatham, Kent, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday after admitting charges of conspiracy to rob, kidnap and possess firearms.

After the hold-up in February 2006, Allen fled to Morocco with Murray, a fellow cage fighter. The pair began enjoying a cocaine-fuelled party lifestyle in the sun, buying sumptuously-furnished villas and expensive cars.

Thousands of pounds were also spent on breast enhancement operations in England for wives and girlfriends of the men, according to court documents.

They thought they were living out their dreams, but after four months they were seized by Moroccan authorities and locked up in the rat-infested “hell hole” of Rabat prison.

Allen, an aggressive and powerfully-built, steroid-pumping fitness fanatic, spent 20 months in the jail before he was brought back to Britain to face trial.

The father-of-three claimed he knew nothing about the robbery and jurors were unable to reach a verdict after a first trial at the Old Bailey.

Allen pleaded guilty on the basis that he was not one of the robbers who entered the depot, or one of the kidnappers, and that he did not handle any firearms.

Plans are under way to make a Hollywood film about the robbery.

Credit: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091005/tuk-cage-fighter-jailed-over-heist-plot-6323e80.html