1971 london bank robbery
Whereas this way we have all got 300 grand to cut up when we come back in the morning. The interior of the vault was mapped out by one gang member using an umbrella and the span of his arms to measure the dimensions and location of the furniture. Sure enough, after 3 seemingly endless months, they managed to do just that: on September 10, 1971, Gavin and his crew were finally a few feet away from taking part in one of the biggest heists in Britain's history. They needed every muscle, every brain cell, every resource they could scrounge up. In the story, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson pre-empt the burglars and are in the vault when they break in. We want you to mind for one hour from now until approximately one o'clock and then to go off the air, get some sleep and come on the air with both radios at six o'clock in the morning. [25][36] Scotland Yard sent members of the Flying Squad to listen to the tapes, and they confirmed that they thought a burglary was taking place. Something didn't seem right. [42] Police soon identified Wolfe from the lease documents, and within four days the police had a list of likely suspects that they were investigating. He then took out the compact umbrella he'd brought with. Each branch was visited by both bank staff and police. Rowlands thinks this was the code for leaving the bank. Some of the rumours inspired the story for the 2008 film The Bank Job.
They split the work up accordingly, placing one member on guard duty atop the bank's roof. [65][68] Campbell describes the story as "cheerful nonsense". 
But one look at that vault door? But as he returned to the bank in the months that followed, Reg wasn't coming to check in on his stored valuables. Little did Robert Rowlands know what awaited him. After breaking open 270+ boxes, the criminals gathered their collection of stolen goods and braced themselves for the hardest part yet: the escape. [17][f] The property had a basement that, the group calculated, was at the same level as the bank vault. [64], There have been several rumours circulating about the burglary. Located just 2 doors away from the bank, it almost seemed as if fate was on their side. It was time to call in backup. They hauled in an explosives expert, an alarm expert, and 2 other members to fully complete the team. In other words? [43] The following day he adjourned the case; no reason was given and no date to resume proceedings was set. He knew exactly their target, long before he even voiced the plan into existence: Lloyds Bank, situated on none other than Sherlock Holmes's Baker Street. [17] The gang then used the thermic lance in an attempt to cut through the floor;[27] when this failed they drilled holes in the underside of the vault floor and packed them with gelignite. Newspapers and later publications provided the following estimates: 231,000 in 1973 equates to approximately 2,972,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the, 2,500 in 1973 equates to approximately 32,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the, 75,000 in 1971 equates to approximately 1,128,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the, 30,000 in 1971 equates to approximately 451,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the, 500,000 in 1973 equates to approximately 6,433,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the, 660,000 in 1977 equates to approximately 4,362,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the, 3,000 to 4,000 in 1971 equates to approximately 45,000 to 60,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the. On Saturday the gang co-ordinated the blast of the explosives with the movement of traffic in the area to mask the noise.
[29] By the time they had finished, the exit of the tunnel measured 12 by 14 inches (30 by 36cm).[3]. The scattered criminals began using walkie-talkies to communicate with one another, something intended to make things easier. [23] Gavin dug until he reached the walls of the Chicken Inn's basement, then dug down and continued under the building, using their basement floor as the roof of the tunnel. This time, he knew exactly what was going on. But what they didn't know, was that the same thing meant to help their heist was about to be the downfall of their entire operation. Stephens, Tucker and Gavin pleaded guilty, Wolfe and the two Gangjis pleaded not guilty. Sure enough, 17,920 pounds of debris, 40 feet of tunnel, and endless hours later, the exhausted criminals finally arrived at 187 Baker. Or perhaps more importantly: what if he was mistaken? Le Sac was officially going out of business. Sure, he and Gavin were up for the challenge. The excited bystander raced for the phone again. [3][c] A former army physical training instructor with connections to several career criminals, Gavin is described by the journalists Tom Pettifor and Nick Sommerlad as "a forceful personality [who] had the propensity to be physically threatening". Even if they were to go undetected, surely they'd be ambushed by alarms. And that's when it hit him. "[A man with] the propensity to be physically threatening.". The state of the room before him looked surreal - almost out of a movie. It was the reassurance they desperately needed: just 5 more feet, and it'd all be over. Sure, in theory it was simple - hop back down the tunnel they came from and disappear for good. Or perhaps was there more to the conspiracy theories?. Sure, we now know all about the months of planning - the drilling, security bypass, storefront property. [69] A third rumour is that photographs of a Conservative cabinet minister abusing children were discovered by the gang and left behind for the police to find, but no action was taken. It couldn't be. [49][n] The case opened in the High Court in 1977, by which time there were 138 plaintiffs seeking damages of 660,000. In order to finally reach the inside of that vault, the group had to plow through yet another block of concrete - 3 feet, to be exact. They continued to search for other members of the gang, including one woman, for five years, but no further arrests were made. Just about everyone in Britain had either heard of the disturbing news, or were the ones breaking it to friends and family. And soon, the case soon took an even weirder turn: On September 17, 1971, after endless chatter about the Baker Street heist, suddenly everything stopped. The story involves murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved. Lloyds Bank had been robbed. [14], During the burglary 268 safety deposit boxes were opened,[7] about a quarter of the boxes present; the gang did not try to crack the bank's safe. The entry hole he, Tucker and a third gang member created in Le Sac was 15 inches (38cm) wide[21] and through 6 inches (15cm) of concrete. As the case continued gaining momentum, the British government decided to issue a D-Notice. But as they soon found out, that was something easier said than done. Everyone had gone silent, almost as if nothing ever happened. What went wrong? But that actually turned out to be the easiest part: Tony was "a forceful personality," as journalists revealed. And as the government attempted to get involved, they set off to fill in the blanks themselves. After that? With the help of car salesman Thomas Stephens and gang member Benjamin Wolfe, Tony's grand vision was becoming more and more a reality. He began to listen to the voices on the other end of his radio. [72], In 2011 The Baker Street Robbery, a documentary on the burglary, was broadcast on The History Channel; the programme included an interview with Robert Rowlands and the recordings he made of the robbery. With 40-feet of distance to account for, perhaps they were. That was, until he reached the vault. But was that even doable? After all, it took months to pull off a plan this grand Like any good story, Gavin needed main characters - partners in crime, to help put his plan into play. [37][38] One of the gang members in the shop thanked him for staying on the roof all night and informed him that they planned to finish the job early that afternoon. [70], In 1976 James Humphreys, a Soho-based pornographer and strip club owner, alleged that police officers had stolen 1million worth of gems "as their share" of the burglary. When this also failed to work, they used gelignite to blast a way through. "Judge will visit scene of bank raid today". So much so, that come 1971, he'd take a page out ofThe Red-Headed League's book, bringing one of the greatest fictional heists to life. [65] The claim is dismissed by Duncan Campbell who writes "no D-Notice was even requested, far less granted";[66] the journalist Graeme McLagen observes that there was a news embargo on the Sundaywhile the burglary was still in progressbut that the events were widely reported over the following days. The value of the property stolen is unknown, but is likely to have been between 1.25and 3million;[a] only 231,000 was recovered by the police.[b]. How could that be? [14], In March 1973, 64 of those whose safety deposit boxes had been broken into sued Lloyds for 500,000. But how would they manage to enter the vault completely undetected? [14] The bank provided the police with the names of 260 box owners; eight others refused to allow their names to be passed on. Shortly after the court case, Lloyds Bank sent him a cheque for 2,500 to thank him for his actions. Police found the members of the gang soon after the break in; one of the burglars, Benjamin Wolfe, had signed the lease for Le Sac in his own name and informers provided information that led to Gavin. Well, what was he up to? What vault? The British Council, "Closed extracts: Approximately 800 pages". But was it really? After all, it was 1 a.m. on a Saturday night. But it wasn't the property listing's attractive price that had caught Gavin's eye - it was its address: 189 Baker Street. The days continued to pass, and things continued to fall into place. But this time around, her ties to the case were too obvious to ignore. Had he just stumbled across a crime in the making? Sure, he didn't quite know what exactly he'd stumbled upon. For 10,000(roughly $13,380), Wolf leased the entire building - including its basement, a room that would come into play very soon. As responders answered the call, the flustered caller explained everything - the radio broadcast, the conversation, the shady behavior. [76][77], The 2015 Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary bears a close resemblance to the break in at Baker Street. [53] Informers provided the first names of two of the gang members and incomplete details of a pub that had been taken over by another member. He reached for his landline. [7] A Dictionary of Law by the Oxford University Press defines robbery as "The offence of using force against any person, or putting them in fear of being subjected to force, in order to commit a theft";[50] burglary is defined as "The offence, under the Theft Act 1968, of entering a building with the intention of committing one of three specified crimes in it [including] theft. But as far as Tony was concerned? [18], Road works nearby meant the trembler alarms in the vault floor were turned off after several false alarms. Instead, Robert was met with something entirely different: an unfamiliar broadcast he'd never heard before. What started as a fascination with a fictional character led to one of the most pivotal crimes in Britain's history. [2] He decided to use a nearby premises and tunnel up into the floor of the bank; the plan was inspired by "The Red-Headed League", an 1891 short story by Arthur Conan Doyle. 
They would have to dig 15 feet upwards to finally reach the foundation of the vault. They found the vault secure; they were unable to open the vault to check as it was time locked. [30] It is not known if the gang were still in the vault at the time, although police suspect that they were, but keeping quiet following a warning from the lookout. As theorists continued pointing fingers, they soon settled upon a familiar face: Princess Margaret. When a group of thieves broke into one of Britain's most renowned banks, people everywhere had questions. Many of the papers relating to the burglary remain under embargo at The National Archives until January 2071. They packed up their patrol cars, closed the case, and headed home. But robbing one of Britain's most guarded properties was going to be next to impossible - even they knew that much. "[34] Eventually, after input from a woman's voice and a fourth person who seemed to carry more sway than the others, the lookout agreed to remain on the roof overnight. He reached for his cassette tape, tuned back into the radio dial, and braced himself for more confusing chatter. Safe to say, their troubles were just getting started: just 2 days later, as the manager of Lloyds Bank headed to work, their actions were about to catch up with them. The 9-inch floor tiles, the bulky drawers, and every other item in his path. Police made the connection between a newly acquired pub and Gavin. "[32], At 2:00am Rowlands decided he had enough material recorded to call the police again; he did not recontact his local station, but phoned Scotland Yard directly. How could they not jump at the opportunity? Word continued to spread like wildfire about the unusual crime. The photographer put both connections and coercion to good use. [41] Estimates of the amounts stolen vary between 150,000 and nearly 4million. Second voice: I suggest we carry on tonight, mate, and get it done with. Bank practice of the time was for staff to leave customers in private while visiting the vault. But where would they even start?
[45][71] The following year Commander Bert Wickstead, a senior officer at Scotland Yard, was appointed to head an inquiry into the allegations. Their plan? And if Security have naused it for us, well at least we have got something. Time was of the essence, that much was given. After all, a crime this big was rare - almost unheard of - for a place like London. This time, to rent a safety-deposit box. [3][7], Towards the end of October 1971 police surveillance teams saw Tucker hand over a bag to two men, Abdullah Hashan Gangji and his nephew Ackbar Mohammad Ali Gangji. First voice: Look, the place is filled with fumes where we was cutting. [61] Four days into the trial, the judge visited the bank and the rooms where the property had been on show. Was this a case of pure luck? [61][62][o] One witness, a retired jeweller, recounted how he identified some of his property by walking around tables on which several items were placed; he and twenty other people were unsupervised while they did this. In the blink of an eye, the Baker Street robbery had gone viral. [30] Eight hundred pieces of evidence were logged and forensically examined. But it wasn't the millions or mementos stolen that left spectators speechless. [58], The trial of the four gang members and the two Gangjis opened on 2 January 1973. [63][p] Another customer complained that he saw a ring in a wastepaper bin, that it was too easy to steal some of the smaller items, if one wished, and that one of the bank assistants had told him that two people had tried to claim the same pair of candlesticks. What next? "Why 'true crime' is a hard job to pull off". [3] Although the common name for the events is the "Baker Street Robbery", it is legally defined as a burglary. The employee fumbled with his keys and made his way inside the establishment. The gang initially tried to use a jack to force a hole in the vault floor and when this failed they used a thermal lance. Thanks to a contact at the bank, they soon found out otherwise: the vault's sensor had been disabled due to local roadwork. Spectators were captivated by the mysterious story, desperate for answers. Gavin and the rest of the group continued to work their way through the remaining concrete. The officers stayed with Rowlands until 8:30am on Sunday 12 September when the gang returned to the shop and radioed the lookout. [46][47] Police recovered 231,000 they identified as stolen from the vault. One of those they were interested in had been living in France and Italy since October 1971; there were no extradition agreements in place to request overseas police arrange for his return to Britain. [4][57][m] Shortly afterwards the bank's insurers offered a 30,000 reward for information that would lead to more arrests. [17][48] The two Gangjis stated that they were acting as a courier for a Swiss-based finance house involved in purchasing sterling. Back in the '70s, bank tellers were required to give renters privacy when they came to check in on their stowed boxes - something Reg knew all too well. [11][12] Thomas Stephens, another second-hand car salesman with no criminal record, was used to acquire the tools needed for the break-in, including a thermal lance and a 100-ton jack; one of Reader's friends, Bobby Mills, was employed to be the lookout man. "naused" is slang for to ruin or mess up. The local P.D. A massive hole on that same floor, spanning majority of the room. As the ad read, the owners were eager to find a replacement and were open to negotiations. But that wasn't the only passion of his. But by October 1971, the case reached a new development as 4 criminals were brought in for the famed robbery: Wolfe, Tucker, Stephens, and, of course, Gavin. Form a tunnel from Le Sac all the way to Lloyds, passing through the neighboring restaurant's basement. [35] The lookout man was also given an update on the progress they had made in opening the safety deposit boxes: "We have done 90 per cent of the easy ones and we now face the hard ones.
150,000 to 4million in 1971 equates to approximately 2,256,000 to 60,149,000, according to calculations based on the. They were ready to walk home millionaires, but they needed the right bank to do just that. Once inside, they emptied 268 safe deposit boxes. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then disappeared the result of a UK Government 'D' Notice, gagging the press. Now that they had eyes on their target - literally - the team moved on to their next hurdle: security. Were we looking at a government cover-up? As he tried - unsuccessfully - to tune into his favorite station, Radio Luxembourg, fate had other plans. And it wasn't long before long-time friend, ReginaldTucker, signed on to help carry out the heist. "Yard inquiry into 'let down' over bank raid". And that's when the investigation truly began. As they alleged, the heist was hatched after revealing Polaroids of the Princess ended up in the wrong hands: those of London criminal, Michael X. But how did a group of rookie criminals manage to pull off one of Britain's most notorious heists? The answer was actually quite simple. [67] Another rumour is that one of the safety deposit boxes contained compromising photographs of Princess Margaret and the actor and criminal John Bindon. But the hard part was far from over. With each visit, he'd head straight towards the back until he arrived at the safety-deposit vault. Could it? As the days continued to grow, so did the shocking conspiracy theories surrounding the Royal Family. Were there other unknown parties involved? The Baker Street Robbery. They thought that during the burglary the woman was acting as a controller, based in a different location to the lookout and the gang. When he wasn't busy capturing moments, the talented artist was busy chasing a different thrill: mysteries. Not only was the entrance secured tightly, but the time-sensitive lock it boasted showed no evidence of a break-in. How did 4 men with no criminal backgrounds manage to pull off such a feat? [32][g], The disagreement between the lookout and gang continued for a while, and the lookout said "Money may be your God, but it's not mine, and I'm fucking off! As he opened the doors to the sealed space, he couldn't believe his eyes: stacks of empty safety-deposit boxes, lying strewn across on the floor. [24][14] The tunnel, which needed no supports, was later described in court as "a magnificent piece of engineering". In other words? But what now? [25] Police found the thermal lance, walkie-talkies and other tools, including an oxyacetylene torch, in the shop. "If security comes in and smells the fumes, we are all going to [escape], and none of us have got nothing," the voice on the radio was heard saying. For now Little did they know, on the other side of those vault doors, a catastrophic crime was busy taking place: Gavin and his companions scrambled as they pried through each of the security-deposit boxes. It all started with one man Back in 1970, Anthony "Tony" Gavin was an established photographer working his way around North London. "30,000 bail for man on bank raid charge". There is no evidence to support these claims and they have been widely dismissed. Nobody was ever arrested. They decided to scour 750 banks within a 10-mile radius of Rowland's home. [26] Their intention was to use the 100-ton jack to force a hole in the 3-foot-thick (0.91m) reinforced concrete floor, and railway sleepers were laid on the floor to support it. But perhaps the most striking part of it all? [60] The trial ended on 23 January 1973 and sentences were handed down three days later. On a fateful morning in 1971, the manager of a London bank made his way to work like every other day. If their suspicions were right, these criminals were in the process of pulling off one of the most shocking crimes in Britain's history. As Gavin and his counterparts continued to argue on their walkie-talkies, Robert continued to listen on in amazement. Granted, the D-Notice was intended to help keep both the story and civilians at rest. [41][42][43][h][i] Because of the way the gang communicated the burglary was soon nicknamed "the walkie-talkie job". The location of the bank was one block down from Holmes's address, Reader, another career criminal, was later involved in the 1983, 10,000 in 1971 equates to approximately 150,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the. [39], Police contacted bank staff and local security firms to open up their branches as they began to check 750 banks in an 8-mile (13km) radius. Tucker opened an account with 500 in December 1970 and two months later he rented a safety deposit box in the branch; over the next few months he visited his box thirteen times. With shaky hands, he punched in the number of the local police department and waited for an answer.
[21] To avoid being overheard, they dug only during the weekends. This film reveals what was hidden in those boxes. The idea that a group of inexperienced criminals could successfully pull off such a robbery - especially one targeting some of Britain's most powerful, most wealthy. Why was the Queen interfering with an ongoing investigation? The men grabbed their tools and began drilling into the wall's stubborn concrete. The same Michael X who had rented out a security-deposit box at Llyods Bank. As for how police finally connected the dots? [5] According to Paul Lashmar, the head of journalism at the University of Sussex, Gavin was a member of a gang headed by Brian Reader, who was also involved in the burglary,[6][7][8][d] although Reader firmly denies that he had any involvement in the events at Baker Street. One is that the government issued a D-Noticea formal request that the media not publish a story on a specific subject for reasons of national securityto stop any news being released. And as he unlocked the doors to the safe-deposit vault, he quickly found that out for himself. He drew a map of the room, plotting where the cabinets were and the position of the furniture. Not to mention, how would they manage to make it past security?
"Call us back when you have concrete evidence," the irritated officers told him before hanging up. Coincidence? "Ethereal dialogue from a fume-filled vault". After tracing the tunnel back to Le Sac, it wasn't long before cops were led to Mr. Wolfe - the same man who used his real name to lease the shop. As soon as Tucker was alone, he would measure the room using the span of his arms and an umbrella he brought with him; he was aided in getting exact measurements by the regularly sized floor tiles, each of which was nine inches (23cm) square. But how exactly were they to pull off the latter? "Three are charged with 1,250,000 bank raid". Chilling conspiracy theories began to arise about the famous heist. Was that the conversation he was suddenly eavesdropping on was weird. The same Michael X whose deposit box had gone missing after the heist. But even he couldn't believe what came next. The officers were baffled, but they had to face the facts. And they certainly wouldn't know any better. [79], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}513120.32N 0928.08W / 51.5223111N 0.1578000W / 51.5223111; -0.1578000, 1971 burglary of safety deposit boxes in London, 1.25 million in 1971 equates to approximately 18,797,000 and 3 million in 1971 equates to approximately 45,112,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the, 231,000 in 1971 equates to approximately 3,474,000 in 2022, according to calculations based on the. [55][k], The two Gangjis were remanded in custody until 16 November, when bail was set at 75,000. But it was actually anything but random. [30] Lord Hailsham owned one of the boxes in the bank; at the time of the robbery he was Lord Chancellor, the most senior member of the judiciary. Sure enough, that's exactly what they did. With roughly3 million stolen, several valuables lost, and endless questions from the public: Lloyds Bank had lots of explaining to do. But not for the reasons he claimed. Only this nightmare was just beginning.
