A cagefighter has finally admitted his role in the £53million Tonbridge Securitas heist from inside his Moroccan jail cell, 17 years after the crime – but insists that he did not mastermind the plot.
Notorious mixed martial arts fighter Lee ‘Lightning’ Murray, 45, was one of eight men convicted for their hand in the Securitas Depot robbery on February 21, 2006. He was handed a ten year prison sentence which was extended to 25 years after he appealed.
The gang targeted the giant Securitas warehouse, which employed 80 people, sorting out old and new banknotes for distribution to cash machines and banks all over south-east England.
Gang members tied up 14 night shift workers at gunpoint after adducting the depot manager, together with his wife and daughter, and using him to gain access to the giant warehouse just 330 yards from Tonbridge police station.
But now Murray, who is in Sale Jail, near Rabat, Morocco, has insisted that he did not have control over the mastermind plan which saw the group escape with £53million which they loaded onto a 7.5 ton lorry during the 66 minute raid.
Cagefighter Lee ‘Lightning’ Murray has finally admitted his role in the £53million Tonbridge Securitas heist from inside his Moroccan jail cell, 17 years after the crime – but insists that he did not mastermind the plot
Notorious mixed martial arts fighter Lee ‘Lightning’ Murray, 45, was one of eight men convicted for their hand in the Securitas Depot robbery on February 21, 2006. Murray was handed a ten year prison sentence which was extended to 25 years after he appealed (pictured with Paul Allen, left)
The gang targeted the giant Securitas warehouse, which employed 80 people, sorting out old and new banknotes for distribution to cash machines and banks all over south-east England (pictured, CCTV from the heist)
Speaking from prison, Murray said: ‘I didn’t have control over it. I weren’t the one to come up with the idea, I weren’t the one who knew where the depot manager lived. I weren’t the one who knew what car he drove. I wasn’t the one who had someone who worked on the inside. You know? How can I be the mastermind? It was never my idea.’
During the heist, the gang were forced to leave behind £154million as they weren’t able to transport it.
A new documentary from Showtime called Catching Lightning, which is released on April 7, details how the MMA fighter went from his career in UFC to how he and others managed to pull off the biggest heist in the history of the UK.
He continued to that he told the security guard to ‘do as they say’ and cooperate as the 14 Securitas staff members were tied up and the gang filled up their carts with cash.
During the heist, the gang were forced to leave behind £154million as they weren’t able to transport it (pictured, police forensics handling cash from Operation Rize where they recovered £14million in safety deposit boxes from Britain’s mastermind criminals)
But now Murray, who is in Sale Jail, near Rabat, Morocco, has insisted that he did not have control over the mastermind plan which saw the group escape with £53million which they loaded onto a 7.5 ton lorry during the 66 minute raid
Murray also says despite the crime and the time he has had to do for it, he does not wish to change anything.
He said: ‘If I could turn back the clock and change what I done, I wouldn’t. Back then, I was a wild man. I didn’t think of the future… I think being in prison, you know I’m learning from my mistakes.’
The fighter added that he is sorry for what he has done, noting that he made a ‘big mistake’.
The gang targeted the giant Securitas warehouse, which employed 80 people, sorting out old and new banknotes for distribution to cash machines and banks all over south-east England.
Police later recovered £21million of the stolen cash, finding bundles of cash in a shipping container and a lockup garage, but £32million is still said to be missing.
DailyMail
