Video: How police caught dangerous robber

KEVIN Brown is a career armed robber known for his extreme violence and was once a member of a gang dubbed The Untouchables.

Brown, aged 47, of Upper Park Road, Bromley, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to rob and two counts of possession of a number of firearms after a high security trial at Woolwich Crown Court which ended on March 27.

He was jailed for life.

Brown was captured after a two-month surveillance operation by the Met Police's Flying Squad, and arrested in a dramatic Sweeney-style, armed police swoop on September 7 2005, while escaping in a red Ford Mondeo through Sidcup's town centre after a planned robbery went wrong.

Three unmarked police cars blocked his path, forcing him to a halt.

Sidcup town centre came to a standstill as the drama unfolded.

Brown was ordered from his car and shouted his solicitor's telephone number to passers-by and asked them to call it.

As armed officers searched the Mondeo, police ordered the robber to remove his trainers and made him put on a white forensic suit.

Within days of Brown's arrest, which was witnessed by large numbers of the public, people in Sidcup were being approached and asked to talk about Brown.

One was even followed as they drove home.

As Brown was ambushed by police in Main Road, a second man was being arrested in Footscray Road, Sidcup.

Jonathan McAvoy, aged 24, of Victoria Road, Chislehurst, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to rob and firearms offences at Woolwich Crown Court on January 10.

At Brown's trial, the court heard how officers from the Flying Squad had watched the two men over a two-month period as Brown cased banks and vehicles carrying cash across London and parts of Kent.

Initially a third man, Gerald Wilson, aged 43, from Dulwich, was also recruited to the plot to attack the security vans by threatening to set fire to them, to force the guards to hand over the money.

But he was dropped by Brown after an incident on August 26, 2005.

On that day Brown had picked up Wilson and the pair had driven around the area, alternating cars between the Mondeo and a green Daewoo. They were tailing a security van.

Eventually they went into a supermarket, where Wilson stole a handbag and tried to use a cash card he found inside the bag, to get some money.

Brown decided Wilson's behaviour would only draw police attention and dumped him.

Wilson was found guilty of conspiracy to rob at Woolwich on March 27. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Police continued to watch Brown and by September he and McAvoy were strategically placing the Mondeo and Daewoo cars around the Chislehurst area.

They were often seen wearing latex gloves and clothes which hid their faces.

On September 2, the pair watched several security vans making deliveries.

Brown again wore a disguise and now he was also carrying a laundry bag and a shoulder bag.

Five days later, on September 7, Brown picked up McAvoy in the Mondeo and drove to the green Daewoo parked in Sidcup and filled a petrol can with fuel.

Brown parked in Starbuck Close near a petrol station in Footscray Road, where a security van was making a cash delivery.

McAvoy parked directly opposite the garage.

As officers continued to watch, Brown put on the same shoulder bag, a balaclava and a crash helmet.

He got out of the Mondeo carrying the petrol can and the large laundry bag.

But as he approached the security van, a marked police car on routine patrol appeared and Brown ran back to his car.

Brown and McAvoy tried to escape in the two cars, heading in opposite directions, but both were stopped by armed officers.

When arrested Brown was carrying two loaded guns and ammunition.

In the shoulder bag was a stun gun and he had a walkie-talkie strapped to his body. Another walkie-talkie was found in McAvoy's car.

The two handguns, one "ready to fire", were later linked to a shooting in a pub and a robbery in Cockfosters in north London.

Brown put up an elaborate false alibi to account for his suspicious movements. He claimed he was not tailing cash vans but was dealing cannabis.

He named the family he was working for but said he had refused to get involved in hard drugs or firearms. But the jury was unconvinced.

McAvoy also changed the basis of his plea, claiming he had been planning robberies with unnamed people.

On March 30 the judge recommended Brown serve at least 11 years and McAvoy five years, before being considered for parole.

Profile of career criminal

BROWN'S career as an armed robber stretches back to the 1980s and his son Billy has followed in his footsteps.

Kevin Brown's previous convictions include:

• Conspiracy to commit armed robbery in April 1982, when three loaded handguns and ammunition were recovered. He was jailed the following year for six years.

• In May 1988, Brown was arrested for armed robbery after an attack on a Post Office cash van in Gravesend. The driver was forced at gunpoint to drive to Bexley where the £100,000 contents were transferred to two stolen vehicles with false plates. The vehicles were then abandoned nearby and their cash transferred to a third car. The suspects, including Brown, were tailed to an address in Sidcup and arrested. Inside the premises police recovered the cash and three loaded handguns. Brown was jailed the following year for 17 years.

History of violence

BROWN also has a history of attempted escapes, as well as intimidation and threats to judges and jurors.

• In 1990, Brown was serving a sentence in Wandsworth Prison and during a morning exercise period he and four other prisoners overpowered the guard.

They took the guard's keys and made their way to a mechanical digger, attacking the driver and throwing him from the machine.

But the group was eventually overpowered and their escape attempted thwarted.

• In 2001 he was standing trial with other defendants, including his son, charged with armed robbery in Kent and possession of loaded firearms.

He was found not guilty after four re-trials, and as a result the gang was nicknamed The Untouchables.

One of the trials was stopped halfway through following information Brown was planning to take a prison officer hostage and escape.

His prison cell was searched and a Stanley knife was recovered, together with key numbers for the cell area.

Deep in the underworld

BOTH Brown and McAvoy have extensive underworld contacts. McAvoy is the nephew of another notorious armed robber, Mickey McAvoy, who was jailed for 25 years for his part in the 1983 Brinks-Mat gold bullion robbery.

At the time of Brown's trial in Woolwich, his son Billy, aged 25, who lives in Bermondsey, was being sentenced at the Old Bailey after admitting conspiracy to steal. He was also snared in a Flying Squad operation with Sussex police, He was given a four-and-a-half year jail term, the day before his father was sentenced.

Massive security for trial

BECAUSE of Brown's extreme history, extraordinary security measures - the most the Flying Squad has ever put into place - were put into operation during his trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

Woolwich was chosen because it has a direct link to the high security Belmarsh Prison, which is next door to the court, reducing the chance of an escape attempt while Brown was being transported to court.

Armed guards patrolled the court throughout the trial, although it was widely assumed they were there because of the terrorist trial in another Woolwich courtroom.

A courtroom was chosen where the jury sat underneath the public galley, so they could not be identified or intimidated by Brown's associates.

Jurors were identified only by number and were under 24-hour guard, seven days a week.

All non-police witnesses were also referred to by number and not by name and gave their evidence via a video link which was only visible to the judge and jury.

Defence witnesses also gave their evidence by video to prevent them from seeing the jury.

Police reaction

AFTER Kevin Brown and McAvoy were sentenced, Detective Inspector Vince Payne from the Flying Squad said: "They were both major players in the criminal underworld. They are very dangerous criminals.

"Brown certainly considered himself too good at his job, to be convicted."