Murderer's Brinks-Mat TV fame 'is not right'

Kenneth Noye fled to Spain after he murdered Stephen Cameron in 1996

The former detective superintendent who put murderer Kenneth Noye behind bars says he is uncomfortable with the criminal's new-found "mini celebrity" status.

Noye played a pivotal role in the Brinks-Mat heist in 1983 - one of Britain's biggest robberies in which £26m worth of gold, diamonds and cash was stolen.

He has received recent notoriety after being portrayed by actor Jack Lowden in BBC series The Gold - which dramatises the robbery.

But Nick Biddiss, responsible for securing a murder conviction against Noye in 2000, said it is not right that people are shaking the hand of a killer just because of his fame.

Noye's crimes

In 1985, two years after Brinks-Mat, undercover policeman John Fordham was stabbed to death in the grounds of Noye's home.

Noye was cleared of the killing on the grounds of self defence but imprisoned for 14 years in 1986 for conspiring to handle gold and evade VAT payments.

He was released after eight years but stabbed 21-year-old Stephen Cameron to death in an attack at the Swanley interchange of the M25 in 1996.

Noye was jailed in 2000 and released in 2019.

Stephen Cameron was 21 when he was stabbed to death by Noye in a road rage attack

"Stabbings at this time were very rare, but nowadays they seem to be very frequent," said Mr Biddiss.

"This was a road rage incident, a young couple, a stabbing, in broad daylight."

Mr Cameron's fiancée saw her partner being killed in the attack by Noye.

"My view is this, if you're convicted of murder, don't forget murder's pre-meditated, the only way you should be coming out is in a box," said Mr Biddiss.

Mr Biddiss was responsible for putting Noye behind bars

"But some of these judges don't live in the real world, they go home in space rockets because they don't live on this planet."

According to recent media reports, Noye, 78, has been seen enjoying his renewed fame around Sevenoaks, near to where he lives.

"I don't feel comfortable with it, especially when you think this man is a violent criminal," said Mr Biddiss.

"Why is Kenny Noye being lionised by people in West Kingsdown and Sevenoaks, shaking his hand, going around in effect being a mini celebrity? It's not right."

The Ministry of Justice previously said Noye is on licence for the rest of his life and could return to prison if he fails to comply with his conditions.

But a quarter of a century on, Mr Biddiss says he still regularly thinks about the "senseless" murder of Mr Cameron.