£1m raider still in hiding

The scene of the crime in Felixstowe

By Nic Rigby BBC News Online

Ten years ago this week a security guard making a routine delivery to a bank in the seaside town of Felixstowe drove off with £1m.

He has never been seen again.

Securicor guard Eddie Maher, who lived near Chelmsford, in Essex, simply drove off from the Lloyds Bank in the town centre and disappeared with his partner and young son.

But on the 10th anniversary of the crime, the man who helped lead the police hunt believes Mr Maher could one day still be caught.

Eddie Maher was a security guard

Former Detective Inspector John Barnett told BBC News Online: "They do tend to get caught for instance if he gets caught in a domestic dispute or his youngster gets in trouble.

"His son was only four-years-old and is now 14 and he must wonder about his uncles and aunts in England.

"Or if he falls out with anyone who helped him."

Mr Barnett, who retired from Suffolk Police after 30 years service in 2000, said that during the police investigation there were sightings of Mr Maher in countries across the world including Cyprus, Malta, Spain and the US.

The van was driven away with £1m in it

Mr Barnett said Suffolk Police, with the help of the FBI, established that his partner Deborah Brett and his son Lee had stayed in a hotel in Boston.

But, said Mr Barnett, they have no idea where they went from there, where they are living now, or if they have returned to the UK.

"It is unfortunate that he did not come back to this country and he was not arrested," he said.

'Media intrigued'

Mr Barnett thought it was amazing how much interest there was in the story by newspapers and television, and how some people admired the theft.

"I was intrigued about how the media were so interested in the story, much more than in a horrible murder of a pensioner in Suffolk three weeks later," he said.

"A lot of people I met thought he was some sort of hero. It's a reflection of this society."

Suffolk Police ran a full incident room for six months from the date of the theft on 22 January, 1993, and the case remains open.

"There are still people who work on it who would very quickly start the investigation again. It is not that complicated," said Mr Barnett.