Events | 2010.02.18
Suspected armed robber on the run
Peter Blake was facing a historic trial without jury over £1.75m Heathrow warehouse heist in 2004 when he disappeared
A suspected armed robber who was on trial for a £1.75m heist in a historic criminal case without a jury has gone on the run.
Peter Blake, 57, apparently walked out of the high court in London in the midst of his trial yesterday.
Blake and three co-defendants were being tried without a jury after the prosecution and police alleged the jury in the previous Old Bailey trial had been harassed.
The escape of Blake is the latest in a series of setbacks in the investigation and prosecution of suspects for the 2004 heist at a warehouse near Heathrow. There have been three criminal trials and more than £20m has been spent, but no one has been convicted of the robbery.
During the third trial last year, the judge halted proceedings over claims from the prosecution that the jury had been interfered with. The court of appeal ruled that in the face of threats to a future potential jury the four men should be tried without a jury – the first such trial in England for 400 years.
The trial began last month and Blake, of Notting Hill, west London, was last seen at 2.15pm at the high court in the Strand yesterday, police said.
Detective Superintendent Stuart Cundy, of the Flying Squad, said all ports had been alerted to Blake\'s disappearance. "Peter Blake is considered as dangerous and we would ask members of the public not to approach Peter Blake, but if they do see him to call 999 immediately," he said.
He is described as a white man, 5ft 7ins tall with blue eyes and grey receding hair. He was last seen wearing dark trousers and a black anorak-style coat.
The lord chief justice, Lord Judge, gave the go-ahead for the juryless trial last year because of what he said was a "very significant" danger of jury tampering.
The armed robbers had intended to steal more than £10m from the Menzies World Cargo warehouse near Heathrow airport during the heist in 2004. But flight manifests had been incorrectly interpreted and in the event those responsible made off with a fraction of their intended haul – just £1.75m. The money has yet to be recovered.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/18[...]obber-heathrow-warehouse-heist
