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Monday, February 27, 2006
The Forensic Goldmine Left By The Robbers (Times Online)The Times February 27, 2006
Police raid homes after thieves leave clues all over Kent
By Stewart Tendler, Crime Correspondent
Armed police mounted a wave of raids across Kent over the weekend as detectives stepped up the hunt for the gang who stole £50 million from the Tonbridge cash depot.
After 24 hours of operations cloaked by secrecy, senior officers would only say yesterday that investigations into Britain’s biggest robbery were at a “sensitive” stage.
But they believe that the raiders could be panicking and making mistakes under the pressure of the police dragnet.
Officers refused to comment on one incident at Tankerton, near Whitstable, yesterday during which the tyres of a BMW were shot out when the car refused to stop and two men were arrested.
But residents said a man was pulled from the vehicle by undercover officers and that a second was arrested nearby. Doug Gilbert, 78, a retired architect, said that he only realised detectives were involved when they got out of their unmarked cars, put on police hats and pointed weapons at the car.
He said: “It was a heavy sound. Something was fired, it must have been. At first I thought there had been a car accident but it clearly wasn’t, having seen these chaps with what looked like firearms.”
In another operation forensic experts searched a house in the Tunbridge Wells area. Three marked police cars and a police van were outside the house near Southborough. Adrian Leppard, the Assistant Chief Constable of Kent who is overseeing the operation, forecast that the net was closing in on the gang as scientists began examining a wealth of potential clues and police received more than 1,000 calls.
Mr Leppard refused to talk about the raids or whether any cash had been recovered because of the “sensitive nature” of the investigation, but said he was “very confident we will catch these people”. He revealed that police found £1.3 million in two dustbin bags left in a white Ford Transit van found at Ashford on Friday which also held guns, balaclavas and body armour.
During the searches and raids over the weekend a 49-year-old man was arrested in the Maidstone area in connection with the Transit and later released on police bail. So far police have confirmed the arrests of six people and all have been freed on police bail while detectives continue their investigations.
Fourteen metal cages that held the cash taken in the raid last Wednesday were recovered from a field in Detling. The cages were used to hold cash in the depot and were wheeled in to a 7.5 tonne white lorry by the gang. Mr Leppard said that a witness saw a white box van at the field at 9.30am on Wednesday, about five hours after the gang vanished. It was possible, he said, that this was the same white Renault Midlum lorry used in the robbery.
He told a press briefing that the cages were an important find and the white van discovered at Ashford was “a really good opportunity for us in forensic investigations”. Mr Leppard said the discovery of the white van suggested that the gang were making mistakes. He said: “This discovery is important because of the description we have of the robbers. We know they were wearing this type of clothing.
“Leaving firearms, clothing and cash in the van suggests to me that there are people in the gang who are now making mistakes. The net is closing.” He said that Securitas officials had been allowed into the depot after forensic experts finished their work and the final total for the haul could be announced today. As he spoke scientists were beginning the search for clues from the discoveries made by police. The balaclavas and body armour could give police many fresh leads.
DNA testing is now so advanced that a strand can be extracted from skin or even sweat. The profile can be tested against a national database holding three million identities, including convicted criminals, and DNA from 139,000 criminals who left traces at the scenes of crimes but have not been identified. Scientists have even made links to suspects through matches with the DNA of their relatives who are on the database.
Scientists will also look for fibres on the vests and balaclavas which came from clothing that may be found in the homes of suspects. The van and metal cages could yield fingerprints. Ballistics experts will examine the weapons to see if they have been used before and whether they are linked to other crimes.
Police will be interested to see if there is anything like dust or paint fragments on the cages which might show where they were in the hours between the raid and the gang dumping them. Although two of the cars were burnt out, the scientists will be able to find items like chassis and engine numbers on the Vauxhall Vectra.
Detectives also want to find out more about the Volvo S60 saloon, which had false number plates and blue lights fitted under the front grille to make it look like a police car. It was stolen in New Addington, Croydon, on February 1, three weeks before it was used to stop the cash depot manager.
Charlie
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