The Gold shows downside to life on-the-run for Brink's-Mat robbers

Yahoo

5 hours ago

The Gold showed that life in hiding abroad may not have been quite so glamorous for the Brink's-Mat robbers.
Jack Lowden's portrayal of criminal Kenneth Noye showed him as paranoid and anxious in the latest episode of the BBC true-crime drama, which aired on Monday, 16 June.
Things began to unravel for the gold robbers living in hiding in luxurious foreign locations. Noye found the Canary Islands was not the most comfortable place to be after he was recognised in a bar by a fellow British ex-pat. Noye chose to go on the run yet again, while money launderer John Palmer stayed put.
But later in the episode things began to fall apart for both Palmer and fellow money launderer Logan Campbell, as the police closed in on them.
The Gold examines one of the most infamous crimes in British history, the Brink's-Mat robbery, which led to £26m worth of gold, jewellery and cash being stolen — the equivalent of £111m today.
A number of people were involved in the robbery from the raid itself to helping melt down the gold, launder the money, and recirculate it back into legitimate channels. The first series featured the robbery and the immediate aftermath, while the current series follows the police investigation to hunt down and catch the criminals after they fled abroad. The hunt is led by detective Brian Boyce, played by Hugh Bonneville.
In episode four of series two Noye has been released from prison after serving eight years of his sentence for being found guilty of conspiracy to handle the gold stolen in the Brink's-Mat robbery in 1983. He arrives in Tenerife to visit Palmer, played by Tom Cullen, who has set up a timeshare business on the island to launder the money from the robbery.
Looking around Palmer's luxurious home Noye tells him: "This is nice, John. Your house, your plane, your life. Could have been a lot worse though, couldn't it? For you anyway. I did my time."
Later, Noye is out drinking in a bar when he is recognised by an old friend of a friend who he played golf with. He asks him: "You on holiday then? Fair enough, hey, you deserve one, don't you, after a stretch like that."
Noye threatens the man not to tell anyone where he is, saying: "You won't tell no-one nothing. Because if I find out that you told Barry or your missus, or your f***ing dog, you saw me here, and that ain't gonna work out well for you, Dave. That ain't gonna work out well at all."
Noye then returns to see Palmer and asks for his help to disappear.
Noye tells him: "Don't matter what I'm running from, what matters is staying ahead of it. And that ain't happening there. Too many English on this island, I may as well be in bloody Kent. I need to go somewhere quiet. And I need enough dough to stay there.
"You don't want me coming back here, do you? Every time I need a little bit more of what you got from the gold." As he leaves he tells Palmer: "You know the difference between us, John. We're both on the run. But only I know it."
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Meanwhile, in the British Virgin Island of Tortola things were also looking bleak for Logan Campbell. Campbell is a fictional character, who has been created for the purposes of the series and he actually is based on multiple real-life people.
In the episode fellow money launderer Douglas Baxter turned and became a police informant he agreed to wear a wire and talk to Campbell about his involvement in the Brink's-Mat robbery. Campbell, played by Tom Hughes, guesses something is up and invites Baxter into the swimming pool with him to check if he is wearing a wire. He then confesses everything to his girlfriend Kadene and invites her to go on the run with him to South America or Switzerland.
Campbells says: "There's a lot I can tell you, and I will. For now What you need to know is that I've Laundered large amounts of drugs money, and the DEA and the British police are here to arrest me."
In a tense climax to the episode Kadene turns Campbell in to the police, telling him: "I chose Tortola."
And back in Spain, Palmer agrees to take on a new money laundering client, only to realise he has been set up by an under cover officer and everything he has said is on camera.
The Gold series 2 continues on BBC One next on Sunday, 22 June at 9pm, all episodes are available on BBC iPlayer.