When six masked men burst into the Brinks Mat warehouse near Heathrow in the early hours of 26 November 1983, they expected cash. Instead, they stumbled upon nearly 6,800 gold bars worth £26 million, the biggest bullion robbery in British history. What followed would become one of the most notorious and far reaching criminal investigations the UK has ever seen.

In Part One of this special three part series from True Criminals, hosts Martin and Helen unravel the violent raid that shocked Britain and changed organised crime forever. From terrified security guards and an inside man who opened the vault doors, to career criminals Kenneth Noye, Brian Reader and “Mad” Mickey McAvoy, we trace the chaotic first days after the robbery and the desperate race to turn stolen gold into cash.

Joining us in the studio is former Metropolitan Police Commander and former head of the Flying Squad, Roy Ramm, who brings extraordinary insight into the investigation from the perspective of Scotland Yard. Roy explains how Brinks Mat marked the beginning of a colder, more sophisticated era of British organised crime, and why the murder of Detective Constable John Fordham changed the case forever.

This is the story of greed, violence, corruption and the “Curse of Brinks Mat”, a case whose fallout still echoes decades later.

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Connect with Martin Brunt

Follow Martin on Twitter at ⁠@skymartinbrunt⁠. Discover more about his career and the cases he’s covered by reading his book, No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason: Dispatches from a Crime Reporter, available here: ⁠https://amzn.eu/d/g1WisSY⁠.

Connect with Helen Fospero

Follow Helen on Instagram at ⁠@helenfospero⁠ and check out her podcast, The Convex Conversation, here: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-convex-conversation/id1510209575⁠.

Credits

True Criminals is produced by Audio Bleach Global.

Visit ⁠www.audiobleachglobal.com/truecriminals⁠ for more information.

Executive Producer: Lee Mann.

Producer: Russell Barnes.

Audio Production: BLEACHED

Music Composition:BLEACHED

Artwork: BLEACHED

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