Trio jailed over plot to murder £54m Securitas raider

Описание: Three men who plotted to murder a member of a gang that carried out Britain's biggest ever cash robbery were jailed for a total of 99 years.

Paul Allen, 46, was shot twice as he stood in his kitchen in Woodford, east London, on 11 July 2019.

Mr Allen was a member of the Securitas heist gang that stole £54m from a cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.

The former cage fighter was living in a large detached rented house with his partner and three young children after being released from an 18-year prison sentence over the raid.

The attack left him paralysed from the chest down.

Louis Ahearne, 36, Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, denied conspiring to murder Allen but were found guilty following a trial at the Old Bailey.

Kelly was handed an extended sentenced comprising 36 years in prison and an extra five years on licence after the judge ruled he posed a danger to the public.

He must serve two-thirds of the custodial term before he can be considered for release on licence by the parole board. Offenders are usually released automatically after serving half their jail sentence.

Louis Ahearne was jailed for 33 years, and his sibling Stewart Ahearne for 30 years.

Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC, said: "I have no doubt that this agreement to murder Paul Allen involved other people apart from the three of you and that you three were motivated by a promise of financial gain.

"The culpability of each one of you is very high.

"The harm caused to the victim was very serious - indeed, short of killing him it could hardly be more serious. He is currently paralysed and relies on others for every single need."

The shooting was just the latest act in a long list of criminal deeds. The day before, Kelly and Louise Ahearne used a rented car to carry out a burglary in Kent, accessing the gated community by pretending to be police officers.

A month before that, the trio had stolen more than $3.5m (£2.78m) worth of Ming dynasty antiques from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva, for which the Ahearne brothers had been jailed in Switzerland.

Kelly is also wanted in Japan over the robbery of a Tokyo jewellery store in 2015 in which a security guard was punched in the face.

The judge's sentencing remarks can be read in full at: https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/r-...

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