A BANK of England employee was the prime mover in an ingenious plan to
steal up to #600,000 from the bank, it was claimed yesterday.
Christine Gibson, 44, was leaving the bank's note destruction plant in
Debden, Essex, at night with a fortune in used notes stuffed down her
bra and knickers, it was alleged in the High Court in London.
Gibson had an annual take-home pay of #14,600. Her husband Peter, 47,
was not known ever to have worked, claimed Mr Anthony Boswood, QC, for
the bank. Yet they ''lived the life of Riley,'' he added.
The couple, of Loughton, Essex, were said to have had two cars
together worth #34,000, two motorcycles, building society accounts,
jewellery -- and no mortgage.
Police took an interest in their fortunes after Mr Gibson went to
invest #100,000, in #20 and #50 notes, with the Reliance Mutual
Insurance Society in Ilford early in 1992, said Mr Boswood.
Mr Michael Nairne, 39, a colleague of Mrs Gibson's, also tried to
invest #30,000 with the society soon after.
The Gibsons, Mr Nairne and his wife, Sharon, 36, of Loughton, and
another employee, Kenneth Longman and his wife Janet, also of Loughton,
are being sued for the return of the cash, allegedly stolen over a
four-year period up to 1992.
All six were arrested -- together with another bank employee, Kevin
Winwright. But only Mr Winwright, of Mansfields, Writtle, near
Chelmsford, Essex, was prosecuted.
He served an 18-month sentence for stealing #170,000 in notes.
A police search revealed #30,000 in cash at the homes of Mr Winright
and his mother, and #600 in cash in Mrs Nairne's ''undie drawer''.
Mr Nairne claimed he had found #30,000 in his late father's flat, and
that his mother had given him #15,000. He also said he had made
thousands more renovating written-off cars.
Mrs Longman said she had been given money.
Mr Boswood told the Judge that the used notes were transported in the
depot in cages.Mrs Gibson had a key to some of their padlocks. While Mr
Winwright kept the guards talking, she and Nairne would remove some of
the cash, he added.
She would first hide the money in her underwear and then in her
locker, before it was allegedly sneaked from the depot.
Longman also stole #150,000 from the cages, said Mr Boswood.
The hearing was adjourned until today.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article