Back in 1970, two daring heists in the Nottingham area lasted minutes, left clues behind, but never led to arrests – could the two be connected?
When we think of bank robberies we often envision guns, panic and of course, a getaway car. However, we also expect a nice, tidy ending where the villains are caught and justice is served. Incredibly, Nottingham has one such story that appears to have no such ending, but it does have everything else – including the getaway car.
On a quiet Monday afternoon, around 3pm on 16 February 1970, doors burst open as three gunmen ran into the Westminster Bank, on Mansfield Road, in Sherwood. One of the gunmen stood by the door, waving a .22 revolver in the air as his accomplices, wearing scarves over their faces, leapt over the counter and began rifling through the counters. Staff and customers were absolutely terrified as the gunmen ordered them to turn and face the wall.
As panic escalated, one of the gunmen fired a warning shot over the head of the cashiers into the ceiling as a signal to leave. All three ran out of the front door onto the busy street to their getaway vehicle. Meanwhile, upstairs, the bank manager heard the shot and quickly called 999 while hitting the panic button to alert the police.
The getaway vehicle was where things got confusing. Three reports of different vehicles made it difficult for police, as one person reported seeing a green van driven away from the scene towards Mansfield, but another said a Jaguar had raced towards the city. A third person reported a Bronze Jaguar turning into Winchester Street near the bank, which later turned towards Mapperley.
Police quickly set up roadblocks across the southern road entrances to Mansfield, Sutton in Ashfield, and Kirkby in Ashfield, but with no luck. All available officers – over 100 in the Mansfield division – were called in to aid the hunt. Meanwhile, a ballistics expert was called in to examine the bullet lodged in the wall. Remarkably, the raid only took three minutes, but the gunmen stole almost £2,000 (around £39.5K in today’s money).
Despite the descriptions, spanners and abandoned jaguar getaway cars, it appears the men were never caught
The police did find the getaway car – the bronze Jaguar 3.8 Mark II – which had been abandoned in a filthy state on New Street, in Carrington. In December it had been reported stolen in Birmingham but was never found. A spanner was also found in the car, but came to nothing despite hopes that it might have a serial number for a workplace.
Later, the manager of a nearby shop found the bank’s money bags with the distinctive logo on them and a bloodstain. As police began door-to-door searches, they questioned landladies and publicans as they believed the men were not local and had met up before the raid.
However, just as things began returning to business as usual in the city, there was a second raid – this time, at the Lloyds Bank on Carlton Street.
Four men with masks and hats pulled down low over their faces ran in through the front door of the bank. This time, they were armed with a sawn-off shotgun and a pistol, but also ammonia, which they squirted at customers and staff to keep them back. As with the last raid, the men jumped over the counter and began scooping up the night safe wallets, which the staff had been counting. Some of the women started screaming, while others choked on the fumes and fell to the floor.
One of the customers told a newspaper, “I felt two rods in my back. I presume that was a double-barrelled gun. I did not turn around to look.”
If these were the same men whom the police suspected it was, then they had learned their lesson and come earlier in the day on a Monday. This may have been strategic, given that it was the time when the bank had more money, due to the weekend. This time, they escaped with £8,000 in cash and £19,000 in cheques.
Eyewitnesses outside the bank heard the alarms and noticed a big blue van parked outside. One man noted that he saw men run out of the bank, jump into the van, then he watched it race down George Street, going the wrong way down one-way traffic. Another man chased the vehicle while writing down the registration number, but police later recovered the van near Alfred Street on false plates. There was no sign of the men or the money.
This time, there were good descriptions of two of the raiders. One was described as being in his 40s, tall and well built with a long grey-blue overcoat and a soft green trilby hat. He carried the pistol and a navy holdall. The other was in his 30s, fair-haired with blue eyes and wore a red polo neck sweater. He spoke with a Liverpool accent.
Despite the descriptions, spanners and abandoned jaguar getaway cars, it appears the men were never caught.
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
