A villain even in his schooldays

KENNETH Noye, born in Bexleyheath, South London, had dabbled in crime while still at school, running a protection racket and stealing money from his local Woolworth’s.

Aged 19, he was sent to Borstal for receiving stolen goods. He spent his 20s immersed in the underworld and was later convicted of theft, handling stolen goods, importing a firearm and fraudulently evading VAT – but was given only a suspended sentence.

He first came to public attention in the 1980s when he was charged with the mur- der of Scotland Yard detective John Fordham. DC Fordham was hiding in the grounds of Noye’s Kent mansion in a surveillance operation by officers investigating the £26million Brink’s-Mat bullion robbery in 1983, in which a gang stole gold, diamonds and cash.

Despite knifing the policeman ten times, Noye told his 1985 trial he had acted in self-defence. He claimed he heard his dogs barking, went outside carrying a knife and only acted in ‘panic and fear’ after he was hit on the head. The jury cleared him of murder.

The following year, he was convicted of handling Brink’s-Mat gold and jailed for 14 years. The court heard Noye melted the gold down to sell it.

In 1995, a year after his release, Noye agreed to return £3million believed to be part of the proceeds of the raid. Loss adjusters traced the money to bank accounts in Britain and Ireland.

The next year he was involved in the road rage killing of Stephen Cameron in an M25 slip road off near Swanley, Kent.