Latest news with #TheGold
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I've seen true face of killer Kenneth Noye… he's a ruthless thug who sent me a chilling threat & The Gold is a whitewash
TO viewers of the hit TV drama The Gold, he comes across as a loveable rogue who helped launder the bullion stolen in one of the UK's most infamous heists. And Kenny Noye would like the world to believe he is a changed man - but I know otherwise. 12 Kenny Noye pictured after his release in 2019 Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 12 Jack Lowden stars as Kenny Noye in the BBC drama Credit: BBC 12 Stephen Cameron was stabbed to death by Noye in 1996 Credit: PA:Press Association The BBC series centres on the 1983 Brinks-Mat
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I've seen true face of killer Kenneth Noye… he's a ruthless thug who sent me a chilling threat & The Gold is a whitewash
TO viewers of the hit TV drama The Gold, he comes across as a loveable rogue who helped launder the bullion stolen in one of the UK's most infamous heists. And Advertisement 12 Kenny Noye pictured after his release in 2019 Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 12 Jack Lowden stars as Kenny Noye in the BBC drama Credit: BBC 12 Stephen Cameron was stabbed to death by Noye in 1996 Credit: PA:Press Association The BBC series centres on the 1983 I've been asked many times who the real Advertisement Well, I've penned three bestselling true crime books about Britain's most notorious criminal and his associates - and I have little doubt he's one of the most ruthless villains this country has ever seen. In fact, I've even been on the receiving end of a chilling threat from Noye himself. Yet today, this convicted killer is flirting with fame and The Gold has become the latest chapter in his alleged rehabilitation programme. He's turning into a celebrity criminal, which must be devastating for so many of his victims and their families. As police hunted down the missing millions, Noye killed undercover cop John Fordham in the garden of his Kent mansion in 1985 - although he was acquitted of murder after claiming he believed the police officer was a hitman. Advertisement He was later jailed for the brutal road rage murder of innocent motorist Stephen Cameron, 21, in 1996. But following Noye's 2019 release from prison, he launched his own one-man public relations campaign, which has included a series of carefully orchestrated public appearances. This once self-styled invisible man of the underworld turned up at a Then he attended an art gallery which featured a portrait of him perched atop a pile of gold bars. And he even 'unofficially' co-operated with a well known TV documentary-maker for a crime series, as well as contributing to a true crime biography about him. Advertisement Kenneth Noye speaks on camera for first time since being freed from jail 12 Noye in custody after the killing of Stephen Cameron Credit: PA:Press Association 12 Noye wrote this threatening message in Wensley's book Credit: Supplied Yet only a few years earlier - while serving the life sentence for the murder of Stephen Cameron – Noye had scribbled out a threatening note inside a book I'd written about him, which was passed to me by a concerned prison officer. In it, Noye had written: 'I'm certainly no killer. Wensley Clarkson has published loads of lies about me in his books and caused untold damage. The tables will turn one day. "All the very best - Ken Noye.' Advertisement Framed claims Noye was sentenced to life in 2000 for the murder of Stephen Cameron - who he stabbed to death on a motorway slip road in Swanley, Kent. For more than thirty years, Noye had insisted that 'the cozzers' had fitted him up for both the killings he'd committed because of his links to the Brinks-Mat gold. Yet having threatened me and insisted he'd killed no one, Noye - the convicted murderer - convinced the parole board he was a changed man. And in 2019, he was released for 'good behaviour'. By all accounts, Advertisement The real Noye is a workaholic criminal who goes after anyone who crosses him, including the innocent road rage victim. One old school villain I know recently tried to convince me Noye was a changed man after months of therapy in prison, which had helped convince the parole board to release him after he'd served a 16-year minimum tariff sentence. The real Noye is a workaholic criminal who goes after anyone who crosses him Wensley Clarkson But it seems more likely that slippery Noye used therapy as a passport to freedom because he's clearly not one to dwell on the past. It is said that the makers of The Gold were so worried about Noye suing them, it's alleged they persuaded him to sign off on a sanitised version of himself, which left numerous unanswered questions about that road rage killing and Noye's time on the run in Spain. Typical Kenny Noye. Always in control. Advertisement 12 Police attend the scene of the Brinks-Mat robbery near Heathrow Credit: Rex 12 Officer John Fordham was stabbed to death in the grounds Credit: PA:Press Association Lion 'guard' at home When Noye and gold smelter John 'Goldfinger' Palmer were turning that stolen bullion into cash, following the Brink's-Mat robbery, he was smart enough to join the Freemasons after being nominated by a friendly police officer. This enabled him to stay one step ahead of Kent Police, where several officers were believed to be masons. In the days, weeks and months after the robbery, Noye emerged as the ultimate criminal fixer. He'd even hidden some of the gold in a pit he dug at the end of his garden 'for a rainy day'. Advertisement Later, Noye told one veteran detective I know that he presumed no one would dare come looking for that gold because he kept a lion prowling freely around the grounds of his home. Noye's neighbours had heard numerous stories about the lion but none of them were brave (or stupid) enough to tell the police anything about it. 12 Noye went to the exhibition which contained his portrait Credit: 12 Noye's Kent mansion was said to have a lion roaming the grounds Credit: Jim Bennett 12 Police comb the grounds of Noye's home after the attack on John Fordham Credit: Rex Advertisement Meanwhile country gent Kenneth Noye donated handfuls of cash to local charities and even held a couple of fetes in the grounds of his immaculate mansion. And when he finally got nicked for handling the gold, he tried to bribe decent, honest Brink's-Mat chief investigator Brian Boyce - portrayed so well by Hugh Bonneville in The Gold – with a Freemason handshake and a million pounds. Noye always claimed back then that he hated the notoriety that came with the Brink's-Mat gold. Yet while on the run in Spain - where he fled after the fatal road rage attack - he kept a copy of my first book about him, Public Enemy Number One, on the passenger seat at all time and would show it off to anyone travelling in his car. When Noye was first released from prison back in 2019, I resisted the temptation to drag his name back into the limelight, despite the public uproar from many who continued to see him as Public Enemy Number One and felt he should never have been let out of jail. Advertisement But then one old lag I know told me he'd seen a photo of 'reformed criminal' Noye taken in a bar in his beloved Kent a couple of years after his release. Either side of him were two of the region's most notorious drug lords. Noye was no different from the ruthless, criminal mastermind who'd been found not guilty of murdering policeman John Fordham in the garden of his Kent mansion, after claiming he acted in self-defence. I once asked an associate of his if Noye had ever talked about what had happened the night the undercover officer died. 'Kenny just said it was kill or be killed,' said his associate. 'He got away with that one, but it was only going to be a matter of time before he'd lose it again.' That happened on the M25 where Noye ended up murdering Stephen Cameron in the heart of the criminal's home county of Kent. Advertisement 12 The Sun reports the road rage attack in 1996 Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 12 Danielle witnessed her fiance's murder Credit: PA:Press Association Stephen's heartbroken family and 17-year-old Danielle Cable - who saw her fiancé knifed to death on an intersection - have never fully recovered from what Noye did that day. They suffered so much heartbreak that Stephen's 75-year-old father Kenneth killed himself in 2022. The family must have been stunned the following year when Noye issued a public apology to them and Danielle, insisting she was 'safe' from any reprisals. Advertisement He even denied allegations made by detectives that he'd paid a hitman to kill Danielle when he was on the run in Spain. And now The Gold has once again obliged them to re-live it all over again. Whatever the truth of about the current status of Kenneth Noye, no doubt this won't be the last we will be hearing from him. Public Enemy Number One – The Life and Crimes of Kenneth Noye by Wensley Clarkson is published by John Blake
The Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I've seen true face of killer Kenneth Noye… he's a ruthless thug who sent me a chilling threat & The Gold is a whitewash
TO viewers of the hit TV drama The Gold, he comes across as a loveable rogue who helped launder the bullion stolen in one of the UK's most infamous heists. And Kenny Noye would like the world to believe he is a changed man - but I know otherwise. 12 The BBC series centres on the 1983 Brinks-Mat robbery, near Heathrow, and the network which handled the £26million of gold bullion stolen, led by Noye. I've been asked many times who the real Kenneth Noye is - especially following the 'kindly' portrayal of him by well-spoken public schoolboy actor Jack Lowden in the drama. Well, I've penned three bestselling true crime books about Britain's most notorious criminal and his associates - and I have little doubt he's one of the most ruthless villains this country has ever seen. In fact, I've even been on the receiving end of a chilling threat from Noye himself. Yet today, this convicted killer is flirting with fame and The Gold has become the latest chapter in his alleged rehabilitation programme. He's turning into a celebrity criminal, which must be devastating for so many of his victims and their families. As police hunted down the missing millions, Noye killed undercover cop John Fordham in the garden of his Kent mansion in 1985 - although he was acquitted of murder after claiming he believed the police officer was a hitman. He was later jailed for the brutal road rage murder of innocent motorist Stephen Cameron, 21, in 1996. But following Noye's 2019 release from prison, he launched his own one-man public relations campaign, which has included a series of carefully orchestrated public appearances. This once self-styled invisible man of the underworld turned up at a VIP night out at an Elvis tribute concert with soap star Jessie Wallace. Then he attended an art gallery which featured a portrait of him perched atop a pile of gold bars. And he even 'unofficially' co-operated with a well known TV documentary -maker for a crime series, as well as contributing to a true crime biography about him. Kenneth Noye speaks on camera for first time since being freed from jail 12 Yet only a few years earlier - while serving the life sentence for the murder of Stephen Cameron – Noye had scribbled out a threatening note inside a book I'd written about him, which was passed to me by a concerned prison officer. In it, Noye had written: 'I'm certainly no killer. Wensley Clarkson has published loads of lies about me in his books and caused untold damage. The tables will turn one day. "All the very best - Ken Noye.' Framed claims Noye was sentenced to life in 2000 for the murder of Stephen Cameron - who he stabbed to death on a motorway slip road in Swanley, Kent. For more than thirty years, Noye had insisted that 'the cozzers' had fitted him up for both the killings he'd committed because of his links to the Brinks-Mat gold. Yet having threatened me and insisted he'd killed no one, Noye - the convicted murderer - convinced the parole board he was a changed man. And in 2019, he was released for 'good behaviour'. By all accounts, Kenneth Noye worked as hard to earn that parole as he did turning the gold bullion from the Brinks-Mat robbery into cash - the crime that first catapulted him to underworld infamy. The real Noye is a workaholic criminal who goes after anyone who crosses him, including the innocent road rage victim. One old school villain I know recently tried to convince me Noye was a changed man after months of therapy in prison, which had helped convince the parole board to release him after he'd served a 16-year minimum tariff sentence. But it seems more likely that slippery Noye used therapy as a passport to freedom because he's clearly not one to dwell on the past. It is said that the makers of The Gold were so worried about Noye suing them, it's alleged they persuaded him to sign off on a sanitised version of himself, which left numerous unanswered questions about that road rage killing and Noye's time on the run in Spain. Typical Kenny Noye. Always in control. Lion 'guard' at home When Noye and gold smelter John 'Goldfinger' Palmer were turning that stolen bullion into cash, following the Brink's-Mat robbery, he was smart enough to join the Freemasons after being nominated by a friendly police officer. This enabled him to stay one step ahead of Kent Police, where several officers were believed to be masons. In the days, weeks and months after the robbery, Noye emerged as the ultimate criminal fixer. He'd even hidden some of the gold in a pit he dug at the end of his garden 'for a rainy day'. Later, Noye told one veteran detective I know that he presumed no one would dare come looking for that gold because he kept a lion prowling freely around the grounds of his home. Noye's neighbours had heard numerous stories about the lion but none of them were brave (or stupid) enough to tell the police anything about it. 12 Meanwhile country gent Kenneth Noye donated handfuls of cash to local charities and even held a couple of fetes in the grounds of his immaculate mansion. And when he finally got nicked for handling the gold, he tried to bribe decent, honest Brink's-Mat chief investigator Brian Boyce - portrayed so well by Hugh Bonneville in The Gold – with a Freemason handshake and a million pounds. Noye always claimed back then that he hated the notoriety that came with the Brink's-Mat gold. Yet while on the run in Spain - where he fled after the fatal road rage attack - he kept a copy of my first book about him, Public Enemy Number One, on the passenger seat at all time and would show it off to anyone travelling in his car. When Noye was first released from prison back in 2019, I resisted the temptation to drag his name back into the limelight, despite the public uproar from many who continued to see him as Public Enemy Number One and felt he should never have been let out of jail. But then one old lag I know told me he'd seen a photo of 'reformed criminal' Noye taken in a bar in his beloved Kent a couple of years after his release. Either side of him were two of the region's most notorious drug lords. Noye was no different from the ruthless, criminal mastermind who'd been found not guilty of murdering policeman John Fordham in the garden of his Kent mansion, after claiming he acted in self-defence. I once asked an associate of his if Noye had ever talked about what had happened the night the undercover officer died. 'Kenny just said it was kill or be killed,' said his associate. 'He got away with that one, but it was only going to be a matter of time before he'd lose it again.' That happened on the M25 where Noye ended up murdering Stephen Cameron in the heart of the criminal's home county of Kent. 12 Stephen's heartbroken family and 17-year-old Danielle Cable - who saw her fiancé knifed to death on an intersection - have never fully recovered from what Noye did that day. They suffered so much heartbreak that Stephen's 75-year-old father Kenneth killed himself in 2022. The family must have been stunned the following year when Noye issued a public apology to them and Danielle, insisting she was 'safe' from any reprisals. He even denied allegations made by detectives that he'd paid a hitman to kill Danielle when he was on the run in Spain. And now The Gold has once again obliged them to re-live it all over again. Whatever the truth of about the current status of Kenneth Noye, no doubt this won't be the last we will be hearing from him.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The new gold rush: Why more of Britain's criminal gangs are using the precious metal to hide their dirty money as black market gold trade booms
It was the biggest gold robbery of all time, with £26million of bullion, diamonds and cash stolen from a Brink's-Mat warehouse near Heathrow. BBC drama The Gold - which returns to our screens this week - tells the story of the 1983 heist and its bloody aftermath, which continues to fascinate Brits more than 40 years later. But today's gangs aren't only interested in stealing gold, they are buying it too - with dirty cash used to purchase secret stashes that can be hidden in lock-ups or buried under gardens. One Essex drug dealer was caught with £24,000 worth of solid gold coins tucked away in a safe. Another used some of the £100,000 proceeds from a Birmingham county lines operation to acquire a collection of 100g bars. While this might seem like an old-fashioned way of going about things, it's partly a response to very modern pressures, with the rise in digital payments making piles of banknotes something of a hot potato for criminals. Surging gold prices are also making this approach more attractive, given buried bullion is likely to be worth significantly more when it's dug back up again several years in the future. When it comes to organised crime, gold is as big in the age of Bitcoin and online banking as it ever was... Organised crime expert Gary Carroll, who has appeared as an expert witness in numerous drug-related cases involving gold, describes the metal as 'incredibly useful' to criminals. 'Gold lets criminals reduce £10,000 of drug money into an object they can fit in the palm of their hand,' he told MailOnline. 'In my experience, it's often buried in back gardens or hidden many miles away. 'The other benefit is gold tends to appreciate in value. So not only are you able to hide cash wealth, you're able to make money while doing so. 'This doesn't usually involve massive bars, what I tend to see are ones weighing half an ounce, an ounce or 28 grams. So they are still worth a large amount of money but are very small.' Some of this gold is bought on the black market, but it can also be purchased from legitimate sellers. While sellers of investment gold have a legal obligation to ensure they sell only to identifiable, legitimate clients, ID is not always requested for small purchases. Mr Carroll, who runs the consultancy Claymore Advisory Group, believes social changes are one factor driving gold purchases among Britain's criminals. 'Going back 15 years ago we were much more of a cash-led society, which made it easier to launder money through shops, garages and taxi firms, or simply spend it in large amounts,' he said. 'Going cashless does create a problem. To me or you having £50,000 in cash hidden under your bed is nice, but for a drug dealer it's problematic. 'It's hard to spend it - many car dealers won't let you buy cars with cash any more and anti-money laundering legislation is in full swing. 'So changing it from one form of currency to another - gold - is beneficial. You can then sit on it for weeks, months or years before converting it into money or trading it on the hand-to-hand gold market with a slightly bent jeweller.' Francis Lagonski, a 23-year-old drug dealer, was found with £24,000 worth of solid gold coins in a safe at his home in Braintree, Essex, when it was raided as part of a drugs investigation. In a sign Lagonski was no Luddite, officers also seized digital assets - including cryptocurrency - worth an estimated £100,000. Police described the haul as evidence the dealer was 'laundering his criminal gains as he went' and he was handed a six-year jail term for two counts of money laundering and conspiracy to supply drugs. Mr Carroll was an expert witness in the trial of the gang behind the 'KD' county line run by Ahmed Kadoora, which supplied at least 5kg of cocaine and heroin on the streets of Birmingham and Worcester. Leeds Crown Court heard money was counted at an opulent London office (pictured) belonging to the socialite James Stunt. But he was cleared of all charges by a jury A jury heard how one member of the conspiracy, Khalid Alabdullah, converted some of the gang's £100,000 revenues into gold bars. 'The bars weighed just 100g,' said Mr Carroll. 'Given they are so small you can see the attraction in terms of disguising them. 'Gold is a transferrable, tangible, valuable commodity that if managed correctly doesn't need to have any actual link to the owner. 'Then, unlike other assets like cryptocurrency or cars, a piece of gold can be passed from person to person with no record.' In addition to criminals buying small amounts of gold for their own use are specialised money launderers who process dirty cash generated by criminal clients. One gang, who operated through a business in Bradford, were convicted earlier this year in what is believed to be the biggest money laundering prosecution in UK history. Banknotes were brought in bags and holdalls to Fowler Oldfield, a jewellery company, before being turned into gold grain, which is untraceable and easier to conceal than bullion. Much of this gold is then believed to have been taken out of the UK. Gregory Frankel, 47, Daniel Rawson, 47, Haroon Rashid, 54, and Arjun Babber, 32, were jailed for a combined total of 43 years for laundering £266 million. Socialite James Stunt, the former son-in-law of Formula 1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone, was charged over the scheme but walked free from Leeds Crown Court after being cleared. As this case indicates, the link between gold and organised crime stretches far beyond Britain's borders. In fact, the United Nations is now so concerned about the role of gangs in the international trade in bullion that it considers the issue a 'serious global threat'. One major problem is criminals taking over mines and refineries in South America and Africa. The product of this illicit trade is often termed 'blood gold' due to the exploitation usually involved. And while the murky nature of the international metals market makes it difficult to say for sure, experts believe some may be ending up in Britain. Ahmed Soliman is a Senior Research Fellow at the Africa Programme at Chatham House who has studied illegal gold mining. He said armed groups and cartels often set up mines in 'ungoverned spaces' inside conflict zones before using the proceeds to enrich themselves or buy weapons. The bullion stolen in the Brink's-Mat robbery was melted down by John Palmer, who like the rest of the gang was a violent career criminal. It was then recast and combined with copper to disguise it, before being sent around the world. Most of the haul - worth around £111million today - was never recovered. Mr Soliman said modern criminals frequently melt down or rebrand illicit gold to hide its origin. 'With other minerals like blood diamonds they are more traceable but the same doesn't really exist for gold - it's very highly mobile and can be moved across borders and melted with new stamps put on,' he said. 'The majority of gold coming from Sudan and the African continent goes to the United Arab Emirates, either directly or indirectly.' The researcher believes it as 'very much a possibility' that some of this gold may end up in the UK, but says it is 'difficult to know for sure'. What everyone agrees on is that gold continues to play a role in organised crime just like it did in the days of the Brink's-Mat robbers. And given its numerous attractions to criminals looking to stay one step ahead of the law, there's no sign of that changing any time soon.
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
When does The Gold series 2 end? BBC schedule explained
The Gold will continue on the BBC - but when will the finale of series 2 be broadcast? 📺 Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hugh Bonneville is back for series 2 of The Gold. The show returned after two years away at the end of May. But when will the latest season finish on the BBC? The Gold has continued to keep audiences on their toes throughout its second series. The acclaimed historical drama returned last month after more than two years away. Hugh Bonneville leads the cast - as a number of familiar faces didn't return for the latest season. See who is appearing in the BBC show in 2025. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Viewers have had to wait since March 2023 for the show to make its highly anticipated return. But audiences might be wondering how much longer it will be on TV. How many episodes of The Gold are left? Charlotte Spencer as DI Nicki Jennings in The Gold series 2 | BBC The first series of The Gold had six episodes - which is a fairly standard amount for a BBC drama. For its second season, the historical crime thriller will also have the same amount. It will bring the show's total to 12 after two series. The most recent episode to be broadcast on TV was episode three and it was on BBC One last night (June 15). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The show will continue with series two about four tonight (June 16). It is set to start at 9pm and will last for an hour. The preview for the latest episode, via Radio Times, reads: 'The British police join forces with the DEA to take down the international money laundering operation. In Tenerife, John Palmer has an unwelcome visitor as the pressure builds.' When is the finale of The Gold series 2? As mentioned in the section above, The Gold will have six episodes in its second season - the same as in the first. The fourth episode is set to be broadcast tonight (June 16). The Gold will then return with episode five on Sunday (June 22) night. Viewers will not have to wait much longer after that to catch the finale of series two. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Episode six is set to be broadcast on BBC One next Monday (June 23). It will also start at 9pm and will last for an hour. For viewers who simply can't wait to find out how the story continues, the full boxset is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. It became available on May 31 and it includes all six episodes. Have you got a story you want to share with our readers? You can now send it to us online via YourWorld at . It's free to use and, once checked, your story will appear on our website and, space allowing, in our newspapers.
