6h 40min, nov 26, 1983 y - Brink's-Mat Robbery Starts
Description:
Anthony Black overslept and reported to work 10 minutes late at 6:40 A.M. on Nov. 26, a Saturday. Shortly thereafter, he left the other five guards to go to the bathroom, then opened the inner front door and signaled to the robbers, who were waiting outside. Black Balaclavas.
Anthony Black - 31 - security guard/inside-man - opening the main door, and giving them details of electronic security measures - worked for Brink's-Mat for 4 years prior to robbery
Anthony White - 40 - No official roll, let's call him the driver - Unemployed (WHO THE FUCK IS THIS PERSON?!)
Brian Robinson - 40 - robber/leader I - Auto Salesman
“Mad” Micky McAvoy - 32 - robber in trilby/Leader II - Builder
There were THREE MORE involved. Never ID'd, never caught/charged. OR WERE THERE?!??! There is an off mix of info out there about how many people were actually involved. A lot of sources say it was SIX a few say it was THREE, and most NEVER MENTION Anthony White!
The robbers then taped the guards' legs, handcuffed and hooded them (including Anthony Black). The guards were covered in gasoline and threatens to be set ablaze if they did not comply.
Two guards, Mike Scouse (the shift supervisor) and Robin rudely, who between them knew the combination to the vault, were then taken threatened with being set afire, they opened the vault.
Alarmed vault door is opened using the bound and doused guards, then the three vaults within were also opened by the guards. One guard keeps the keys while the other keeps the numeric combinations. There were some issues with one of the guards remembering the numeric combo, which slowed things down.
Guards later described the robbers as being "military like" in their execution of the heist. "they seemed to know everything about the vaults' operation".
The robbers thought they were going to steal £3.2 million in cash (appx $4.68-$11.5mill).
What they found was three tonnes (6,614 lbs) of gold ($31.5-$77.4mill) belonging to Johnson Matthey, as well as a mix of platinum, more gold (880 lbs), diamonds, and travelers checks all from various other legitimate organizations valued at a combined ( $7.08-$17.40mill). Adding it up:
$38.58-$94.82Mill in addition to the appx $4.68-$11.5mill in cash. GRAND TOTAL $106.32MIL today's value. Literally ten times what they expected to make away with.
The Johnson Matthey gold was in ingots that were divided into 76 boxes. Each box would have weighed about 87lbs and been about a 5-inch cube, occupying a total space of about two cubic feet.
So they found a pallet jack, backed the van into the warehouse and destroyed the vans suspension loading up the loot (7,538 lbs).
I can't get over that number. 7,538 lbs loaded into a van. I can find no mention of the make and model of the van, but depictions of the Heist make it look like a sprinter (light commercial vehicle). A 2017 Ford Transit weighs 3,500 lbs and has a payload capacity of about 1,500 lbs. A Ford e350 from the 90s has a load capacity of about 4,000lbs. Good thing Brian Robinson was a car salesmen, but they weren't expecting gold. 3.2mill would weight less than a hundred pounds.
And assuming the vehicle was capable, what are the odds they bought tires suited to carry that weight? Oh, and let's add in another thousand pounds of robbers. 8,500 lbs loaded into the get away vehicle.
Added to timeline:
Brink's-Mat Robbery
For da Podcast.
Date:
