Securitas raid trial jury retires

A gang of robbers stole £53m from the cash depot in Tonbridge

The jury in the trial of seven men accused of taking part in Britain's biggest-ever cash robbery has retired to consider its verdicts.

The three men and seven women have been hearing evidence at the Old Bailey for the last seven months.

The court has heard the £53m heist at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge was carried out by a gang who kidnapped manager Colin Dixon and his family.

The seven men deny all the charges against them.

Mr Justice Penry-Davey told the jury they had to consider the evidence "coolly and calmly".

"Let there be no doubt about the seriousness of the task you now have to perform," he said.

"It is a very serious and extremely important task, and it is a task that you should approach without emotion."

£21m recovered

CCTV cameras showed armed robbers holding the Dixon family and 14 members of staff hostage as they loaded cash into the back of a 7.5-ton lorry.

Since the robbery in February 2006, police have recovered £21 million of the stolen cash, the court has been told.

The defendants are Stuart Royle, 49, of Allen Street, Maidstone, Kent; Jetmir Bucpapa, 26, of Hadlow Road, Tonbridge and garage owner Roger Coutts, 30, of The Green, Welling, south-east London.

Also charged are Lea Rusha, 35, of Lambersart Close, Southborough; Emir Hysenaj, aged 28, of New Road, Crowborough, East Sussex and John Fowler, 59, of Chart Hill Road, Staplehurst, Kent.

All six deny conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to kidnap the Dixon family, and conspiracy to possess firearms.

A seventh man, Keith Borer, aged 54, of Hempstead Lane, Maidstone, Kent, denies handling stolen money.