Cage fighter who led £50m Securitas raid only has to pay back £420 of £2m share
A CAGE fighter who took part in the notorious £53million Securitas robbery has been secretly let off repaying more than £1million of the stolen money, it emerged yesterday.
Paul Allen was jailed for 18 years and ordered to pay £1.23million of the £1.9million he stole during the violent raid in 2006 – but he has only come up with a paltry £420.
He was told he would face five more years in prison if he failed to pay the money back by July 2010. But the extra jail time was never imposed.
He was released from prison two years ago after serving half of his sentence.
It has now been revealed that a judge decided in a secret court hearing that Allen would not have to repay any more money. Tory MP Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons justice select committee, described the decision as ‘perverse’ and said the secrecy ‘flies against the presumption of justice being done in public’.
Allen, 39, helped to plan the raid at the high- security Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent. Seven masked men brandishing guns stole £53million belonging to the Bank of England. Police later recovered £21million but £32million vanished.
The depot manager, his wife and child were kidnapped and subjected to death threats during the heist. Fourteen other staff were tied up and locked in cages in a ‘ brutal, horrific and traumatic’ ordeal. Allen fled to Morocco, where he enjoyed a cocaine-fuelled lifestyle, splashing out on expensive cars, property and breast surgery for his girlfriend.
He was finally arrested and extradited to Britain where he admitted conspiring to kidnap, rob and possess a firearm.
Jailing him for 18 years at Woolwich Crown Court, Judge David Penry-Davey said Allen had ‘played an active part’ in preparing the ‘ ruthlessly executed’ robbery. He added: ‘This was organised banditry for uniquely high stakes.’
Allen was released in 2016. Days later he was photographed driving a £40,000 Mercedes convertible and wearing a Rolex with an estimated value of £45,000.
Mr Neill said: ‘If someone has blown it all in such a way that there’s no hope of getting it back, the presumption ought to be that the default sentence applies.’
He stressed the secrecy surrounding the case was also wrong and that confiscation decisions should be made in public.
He added: ‘On the face of it, this case flies against the presumption of justice being done in public. That’s important for public confidence. It may well be something that the Attorney General needs to look at and the courts need to look at.’
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said the case had been ‘handled in line with the relevant legislation’. Of the judge’s secret decision, he said: ‘We are unable to discuss it in detail as proceedings were not conducted in public.’