Securitas robber let off repaying £1.2m proceeds of crime

Paul Allen paid back just £420 of the £1.23m he was ordered to by the court

A man who helped organise Britain's biggest cash robbery has been let off repaying nearly all of the £1.2m he stole in the raid.

Paul Allen, 40, was part of the armed gang that took £53m from the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.

He was jailed for 18 years in 2009 and ordered to pay back £1.23m of the £1.9m "criminal benefit" he gained.

He paid just £420 but, in a closed court, a judge agreed that he should not have to pay any more.

Allen, a former cage fighter from Chatham, admitted conspiracy to kidnap, rob and possess a firearm relating to the Securitas raid.

He was released from prison six years into his sentence.

In response to a Freedom of Information request by the Evening Standard, a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the confiscation order "was handled in line with the relevant legislation".

"The CPS works hard to seize assets from criminals to stop them from benefitting from their crimes.

"In a small number of cases, a certificate of inadequacy can be offered when the sale of a person's assets does not meet the original valuation," a statement said.

Fourteen Securitas staff members were tied up at gunpoint during the raid

Seven men were jailed for their roles in the raid in February 2006.

On the night of the robbery the manager of the Securitas depot, his wife and young child were kidnapped to allow a gang to gain entry.

Fourteen Securitas staff members were tied up at gunpoint as the robbers loaded cash on to a lorry.

Kent Police has only ever recovered £21m of the £53m stolen.