Dozy driller who bungled multi-million pound raid in Swanley gets 13 years

Ex-Millennium Dome robber Raymond Betson, 52, and other unidentified raiders targeted the Loomis depot in Mark Way, Swanley, in March 2012.

A stolen digger was driven into the outside wall of the depot just before 5am to knock it over and allow the crooks inside.

But the attempted raid turned to farce because, after ramming the wall repeatedly, one of the robbers climbed over the rubble to find an empty room.

When the gang entered a nearby warehouse they discovered that was empty too and they ended up fleeing empty-handed.

Police found a two-way radio, a baseball bat and large white bags inside an abandoned Mitsubishi 4x4 in a nearby field.

In a nearby bush was a balaclava, a snood and a running stopwatch - which police linked to the attempted robbery.

DNA from the snood and the balaclava provided a one-in-a-billion match to Betson who was previously convicted for his part in the Millennium Dome raid in November 2000.

Betson, of Clifton Crescent, Folkestone, was found guilty of attempted robbery at Maidstone Crown Court last month and was jailed for 13 years today (August 8).

Detective Inspector Rob Haines, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, said: "Betson wanted to make a lot of money quickly and was significantly involved in this botched robbery.

"The attempt displayed a level of violence, planning and organisation with the use of a digger, weapons, such as baseball bats, and a getaway vehicle.

"But what went from an armed robbery quickly turned into a farce because they knocked down the wrong wall, then searched an empty warehouse and managed to render the getaway vehicle useless as they fled the scene, discarding equipment nearby."

Mr Haines said they were still trying to trace Betson's accomplices, including Karl Delaney, 37, formerly from Sheerness.

Police believe he has fled to Ireland, and officers have urged anyone with information about his whereabouts to call Kent Police on 101.