A cage fighter has finally admitted his role in the £53 million Tonbridge Securitas robbery from his Moroccan jail cell, 17 years after the crime – but insists he didn’t invent the plot.
Notorious mixed martial arts fighter Lee “Lightning” Murray, 45, was one of eight men convicted of their hand in the February 21, 2006 Securitas depot robbery. He received a ten-year sentence, which was extended to 25 years after he appealed. .
The gang targeted the massive Securitas warehouse, which employed 80 people, sorting out old and new notes for distribution to ATMs and banks across South East England.
Gang members tied up 14 night shift workers at gunpoint after taking the depot manager, along with his wife and daughter, and using him to gain access to the massive warehouse just 300 meters from Tonbridge police station.
But now Murray, who is in Sale Prison, near Rabat, Morocco, has insisted he had no control over the mastermind scheme that saw the group escape with £53million stolen during the 66-minute robbery of a van truck. 7.5 tons loaded.
Cagefighter Lee ‘Lightning’ Murray has finally admitted his role in the £53m Tonbridge Securitas robbery from his Moroccan jail cell, 17 years after the crime – but insists he didn’t invent the plot
Notorious mixed martial arts fighter Lee ‘Lightning’ Murray, 45, was one of eight men convicted of their hand in the February 21, 2006 Securitas depot robbery. Murray received a ten-year sentence, which was extended to 25 years after he appealed. (pictured with Paul Allen, left)
The gang targeted the giant Securitas warehouse, employing 80 people, where old and new notes were sorted for distribution to ATMs and banks across South East England (photo, CCTV of the robbery)
From prison, Murray said, “I had no control over it. I wasn’t the one who came up with the idea, I wasn’t the one who knew where the depot manager lived. I wasn’t the one who knew what car he was driving. I wasn’t the one who had someone working on the inside. You know? How can I be the brain? It was never my idea.’
During the robbery, the gang had to leave behind £154 million because they couldn’t transport it.
A new Showtime documentary called Catching Lightning, due for release April 7, details how the MMA fighter progressed from his career in the UFC to how he and others managed to pull off the biggest heist in UK history.
He continued that he told the security guard to “do as they say” and cooperate while the 14 Securitas employees were tied up and the gang filled their carts with cash.
During the robbery, the gang were forced to leave behind £154 million as they were unable to transport it (pictured, police forensics handling cash from Operation Rize where they recovered £14 million worth of safety deposit boxes belonging to British mastermind criminals)
But now Murray, who is in Sale Prison near Rabat, Morocco, has insisted he had no control over the mastermind scheme that led the group to escape with £53 million they stole on a 7-year-old truck during the 66-minute raid. .5 tons loaded.
Murray also says that despite the crime and the time he had to do for it, he does not want to change anything.
He said, ‘If I could turn back the clock and change what I was doing, I wouldn’t do it. Then I was a wild man. I didn’t think about the future… I think I’m in prison, you know, I learn from my mistakes.’
The fighter added that he regrets what he did, noting that he made a ‘big mistake’.
The gang targeted the massive Securitas warehouse, which employed 80 people, sorting out old and new notes for distribution to ATMs and banks across South East England.
Police later recovered £21 million of the stolen money and found bundles of cash in a shipping container and locked garage, but £32 million is still missing.