Baker Street robbery
Encyclopedia
The Baker Street robbery was a robbery
of the safe deposit boxes at a branch of Lloyds Bank
on the corner of Baker Street
and Marylebone Road
, London
, on the night of 11 September 1971.
The robbers had rented a leather goods shop named Le Sac, two doors down from the bank, and tunnelled a distance of approximately 50 feet (15.2 m) passing under the intervening Chicken Inn restaurant. To avoid being overheard they only dug during weekends. They used a thermal lance
to try to break into the vault but ultimately had to use explosives.
authorities issued a D-Notice, requesting that such reporting be discontinued for reasons of national security and that the story disappeared from newspapers. It is claimed by national newspapers in recent years, that some of the security boxes contained embarrassing or nationally sensitive material and that the purpose of the request was to protect a prominent member of the British Royal Family
. Rowlands, the aforementioned ham radio operator, claims that the police attempted to prevent him from talking to the press by means of the D-Notice, which he felt was an attempt to hide police incompetence. He also claims that police threatened to prosecute him for listening to an unlicensed radio station. An investigation some years later showed that a request had never been made to the D-Notice committee at that time. Furthermore, a D-Notice has no legal status, being a mere request and not a legally enforceable order. The Times
newspaper was still reporting about the case over two months later.
Other recent reports suggest that the identity of the criminals and their sentences have never been revealed. However, The Times (amongst other newspapers) reported in January 1973 that four men had been convicted of the robbery at a trial at the Old Bailey
. Three of these men were named as: Anthony Gavin, 38, a photographer from Dalston
; Thomas Stephens, 35, a car dealer from Islington
; and Reginald Tucker, 37, a company director from Hackney
, who all pleaded guilty
and who each received twelve years imprisonment. The fourth man, Benjamin Wolfe, 66, a fancy goods dealer from East Dulwich
, pleaded not guilty but was subsequently convicted and received eight years. Wolfe had signed the lease on the shop used by the robbers. Two other men accused of handling banknotes from the robbery were acquitted. According to one press report, the police believed that the mastermind of the crime was another London car dealer who was never apprehended.
, which explores another popular theory of the crime that argues the robbery was either set up by, or later covered up by, MI5
to secure sexually compromising photographs of Princess Margaret
which were being kept in a deposit box at the bank by known radical Michael X
. While this theory has usually been considered yet another urban myth, there have been some individuals, including George McIndoe, an advisor to the film who claimed to have knowledge of the actual robbery, purporting that this was indeed the real motivation for the robbery. This theory has been mostly discounted however.
There are also some similarities between the robbery and Troy Kennedy Martin
's 1975 episode Night Out for the first series of The Sweeney
. The story sees Inspector Jack Regan holed up in a pub over Saturday night and Sunday morning waiting for a gang of villains who have broken through from the pub basement to the safety-deposit vault of the bank next door. Meanwhile the police are listening in to radio traffic between the robbers in the vault and the gang's spotter on the pub roof. Money is not the primary objective of the robbers. Instead they are after—and the Crime Squad want to capture them with—a mysterious envelope tied with seals and red tape that the gang's leader secures with a flourish at the climax of act II. By the end of the show, the Crime Squad superintendent has recovered all of the spoils; but a press enquiry "Were they after one particular thing?" is met with a curt "no comment"
On the episode commentary (2003), Troy Kennedy Martin is asked whether this was based on any particular crime, and responds "No. Just dreamed up," though he "can't quite think" of the genus of it. Earlier in the commentary, producer Ted Childs notes that he once had a visit from the Home Office asking whether the show was paying criminals for information; but was able to reassure them that the show simply had young and imaginative writers.
The robbery also loosely inspired the plot of the 2001 comedy High Heels and Low Lifes
starring Minnie Driver
and Mary McCormack
. Driver's character, a nurse, overhears chatter between a robbery gang and their lookout, and when her police report fails to stir any action, she and her friend (McCormack) track down the thieves and attempt to blackmail them.
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
of the safe deposit boxes at a branch of Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies...
on the corner of Baker Street
Baker Street
Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid the street out in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B...
and Marylebone Road
Marylebone Road
Marylebone Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. It runs east-west from the Euston Road at Regent's Park to the A40 Westway at Paddington...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, on the night of 11 September 1971.
The robbers had rented a leather goods shop named Le Sac, two doors down from the bank, and tunnelled a distance of approximately 50 feet (15.2 m) passing under the intervening Chicken Inn restaurant. To avoid being overheard they only dug during weekends. They used a thermal lance
Thermal lance
A thermal lance, thermic lance, oxygen lance, or burning bar is a tool that burns iron in the presence of pressurized oxygen to create very high temperatures for cutting. It consists of a long iron tube packed with iron rods, sometimes mixed with aluminium or magnesium rods to increase the heat...
to try to break into the vault but ultimately had to use explosives.
Robbery
Robert Rowlands, a radio ham operator, overheard conversations between the robbers and their rooftop lookout at about 11 pm. He contacted police and tape recorded the conversations while the robbery was in progress, but there was insufficient information to identify which bank was being robbed. At 2 am a senior police officer alerted radio detector vans to track down the gang. Police checked the 750 banks within 10 miles of Mr Rowlands' receiver, including the Baker Street bank. At the time, the thieves were still in the bank, but the police failed to realise the fact because the security door was still locked. The thieves got away with £1.5m cash (2010: £16.5m) and valuables from safety deposit boxes. The total haul was believed to be near £3m (2010: £33.1m).Aftermath
It has often been reported that after four days of news coverage BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
authorities issued a D-Notice, requesting that such reporting be discontinued for reasons of national security and that the story disappeared from newspapers. It is claimed by national newspapers in recent years, that some of the security boxes contained embarrassing or nationally sensitive material and that the purpose of the request was to protect a prominent member of the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
. Rowlands, the aforementioned ham radio operator, claims that the police attempted to prevent him from talking to the press by means of the D-Notice, which he felt was an attempt to hide police incompetence. He also claims that police threatened to prosecute him for listening to an unlicensed radio station. An investigation some years later showed that a request had never been made to the D-Notice committee at that time. Furthermore, a D-Notice has no legal status, being a mere request and not a legally enforceable order. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper was still reporting about the case over two months later.
Other recent reports suggest that the identity of the criminals and their sentences have never been revealed. However, The Times (amongst other newspapers) reported in January 1973 that four men had been convicted of the robbery at a trial at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
. Three of these men were named as: Anthony Gavin, 38, a photographer from Dalston
Dalston
Dalston is a district of north-east London, England, located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
; Thomas Stephens, 35, a car dealer from Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
; and Reginald Tucker, 37, a company director from Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, who all pleaded guilty
Guilty
Guilty commonly refers to the feeling of guilt, an experience that occurs when a person believes that they have violated a moral standard.Guilty or The Guilty may also refer to:-Law:*Guilty plea, a formal admission of legal culpability...
and who each received twelve years imprisonment. The fourth man, Benjamin Wolfe, 66, a fancy goods dealer from East Dulwich
East Dulwich
East Dulwich is a district of South London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern one third of Dulwich, with the Dulwich Wood area, Dulwich Village and West Dulwich to its South and West making up the remaining two thirds...
, pleaded not guilty but was subsequently convicted and received eight years. Wolfe had signed the lease on the shop used by the robbers. Two other men accused of handling banknotes from the robbery were acquitted. According to one press report, the police believed that the mastermind of the crime was another London car dealer who was never apprehended.
In popular media
A semi-fictional version of the robbery is the subject of the 2008 film The Bank JobThe Bank Job
The Bank Job is a 2008 British crime film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, directed by Roger Donaldson, and starring Jason Statham, based on the 1971 Baker Street robbery in central London, from which the money and valuables stolen were never recovered...
, which explores another popular theory of the crime that argues the robbery was either set up by, or later covered up by, MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
to secure sexually compromising photographs of Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....
which were being kept in a deposit box at the bank by known radical Michael X
Michael X
Michael X , born Michael de Freitas in Trinidad and Tobago to a Portuguese father and a Bajan-born mother, was a self-styled black revolutionary and civil rights activist in 1960s London. He was also known as Michael Abdul Malik and Abdul Malik...
. While this theory has usually been considered yet another urban myth, there have been some individuals, including George McIndoe, an advisor to the film who claimed to have knowledge of the actual robbery, purporting that this was indeed the real motivation for the robbery. This theory has been mostly discounted however.
There are also some similarities between the robbery and Troy Kennedy Martin
Troy Kennedy Martin
Troy Kennedy Martin was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter best known for creating the long running BBC TV police series Z-Cars, and for the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama Edge of Darkness...
's 1975 episode Night Out for the first series of The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
. The story sees Inspector Jack Regan holed up in a pub over Saturday night and Sunday morning waiting for a gang of villains who have broken through from the pub basement to the safety-deposit vault of the bank next door. Meanwhile the police are listening in to radio traffic between the robbers in the vault and the gang's spotter on the pub roof. Money is not the primary objective of the robbers. Instead they are after—and the Crime Squad want to capture them with—a mysterious envelope tied with seals and red tape that the gang's leader secures with a flourish at the climax of act II. By the end of the show, the Crime Squad superintendent has recovered all of the spoils; but a press enquiry "Were they after one particular thing?" is met with a curt "no comment"
On the episode commentary (2003), Troy Kennedy Martin is asked whether this was based on any particular crime, and responds "No. Just dreamed up," though he "can't quite think" of the genus of it. Earlier in the commentary, producer Ted Childs notes that he once had a visit from the Home Office asking whether the show was paying criminals for information; but was able to reassure them that the show simply had young and imaginative writers.
The robbery also loosely inspired the plot of the 2001 comedy High Heels and Low Lifes
High Heels and Low Lifes
High Heels and Low Lifes is a 2001 action comedy-drama film starring Minnie Driver, Mary McCormack, Kevin McNally, Mark Williams, Danny Dyer and Michael Gambon. It was directed by Mel Smith and written by Kim Fuller and Georgia Pritchett...
starring Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life...
and Mary McCormack
Mary McCormack
Mary Catherine McCormack is an American actress. Best known for her work in television, she has had leading roles as Justine Appleton in the series Murder One , as Deputy National Security Adviser Kate Harper in The West Wing and as Mary Shannon in In Plain Sight .Her film roles include Private...
. Driver's character, a nurse, overhears chatter between a robbery gang and their lookout, and when her police report fails to stir any action, she and her friend (McCormack) track down the thieves and attempt to blackmail them.