Three Men Sentenced for Plotting $68M Securitas Heist Murder Conspiracy

Three individuals have been sent to prison for planning to murder a previous cage fighter who was found guilty of the UK's biggest cash heist.

In 2019, when Paul Allen was 41 years old, he became paralyzed for life following gunfire at his spacious separate rental house in Woodford Green, which is located in northeast London.

The jury at the Old Bailey heard that the aim was to assassinate him, and that the assailants "came very close" to achieving their goal. They subsequently found Louis Ahearne, 36, Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, guilty of conspiring to murder Allen along with unnamed accomplices.

Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC handed down a 36-year sentence to Kelly, who was absent from the proceedings, along with an additional five-year extension on her license. Meanwhile, she ordered Louis Ahearne to serve 33 years and Stewart Ahearne to serve 30 years behind bars.

The judge stated on Friday: "I am convinced beyond any doubt that this plot to kill Paul Allen included more individuals than just the three of you, and that the three of you were driven by the prospect of monetary reward."

The responsibility of each one of you is extremely great.

The damage inflicted upon the victim was extremely severe—short of taking his life, it couldn’t have been much worse. He is now paralyzed and completely dependent on assistance from others for all his needs.

In the course of the trial, prosecutors claimed that the context for the shooting was that Allen was a "highly skilled" professional criminal with an extensive history.

In 2009, he was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court for his involvement in Britain’s largest armed robbery, the Securitas haul in Kent, where £54 million was taken, with a significant portion remaining unrecovered according to the court records.

In 2019, Allen was freed from incarceration and relocated from southern London to a spacious standalone home in Woodford, which is located in northeast London. There, he resided with his partner and their young offspring.

The court was informed about how the accused parties meticulously planned the shooting, conducted thorough observation, and installed a tracking device on the victim's vehicle to monitor his activities.

Around 11:09 PM on July 11, 2019, six gunshots pierced the back doors and windows, hitting Mr. Allen in the neck as he was standing in the kitchen.

In the course of the police investigation, DNA was obtained from the garden fence and it linked both Kelly and Louis Ahearne.

The bullet casings found in the garden were linked to a Glock pistol that could use a laser sight, which was discovered at Kelly’s residence.

The court was informed that the trio had seized Ming dynasty artifacts valued at over $3.5 million (£2.78 million) from a Swiss museum just prior to plotting the murder.

The jurors were informed of the admitted facts concerning the defendants' "prior offenses," which involved a break-in at the Museum of Far Eastern Art in Geneva on June 1, 2019, one month prior to Allen being shot.

The theft involved three Ming Dynasty porcelain items from the museum, with an aggregate insured worth of $3,580,000 USD (£2,760,000).

The objects included a bottle from the early 1400s featuring a concealed pomegranate motif, a miniature wine goblet called the "chicken cup," along with a bowl adorned with a 14th-century phoenix pattern known as An Huan.

The accused traveled to Hong Kong on June 14, 2019, and tried to put the phoenix bowl up for sale at an auction house there.

On October 16, 2020, Stewart Ahearne was apprehended along with another individual at a London hotel when they attempted to sell a Ming dynasty vase to an undercover law enforcement agent.

A subsequent examination of a location uncovered a passport belonging to Stewart Ahearne and a book about Ming dynasty antiquities, according to what was presented in court.

The siblings were sent back to Switzerland to stand trial for the shooting incident.

Louis Ahearne from Greenwich, southeast London, along with Stewart Ahearne and Kelly, who were both homeless, had pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.