Security driver who handcuffed himself to steering wheel during fake heist is jailed
A security van driver who handcuffed himself to his vehicle’s steering wheel in a faked armed heist of almost £1m has been jailed for four years and 10 months.
Andrew Measor waited for two hours before using his nose to dial for help after helping Stefanos Cantaris, who masterminded the crime, to steal £920,000 in banknotes.
Measor, 51, had worked for cash-handling firm Loomis for three years and was the “inside man” in the faked armed robbery in Ilford, east London, on 30 December 2021, Southwark Crown Court heard.
CCTV footage released today shows masked men loading chequered laundry bags filled with cash into a white Vauxhall Combo van during the theft.
Measor handcuffed himself to his security van’s steering wheel and waited for two hours to raise the alarm at the depot in Dagenham, east London.
The driver claimed he was “raided” after a man armed with a gun approached him as he left his home and said: “I know everything that goes on. Just do as I say and everything will be OK.”
To bolster the claim, a “charade” of the so-called “tiger kidnap”, involving a man wearing a latex mask, was carried out outside his front door and captured on his doorbell camera.
A tiger kidnapping refers to when a person is abducted and their captors demand a crime is committed on their behalf in order for the hostage not to be harmed.
The hearing was told his spending was not “that of someone who struggled to make ends meet” and last year he travelled to Columbia, Ibiza, Dubai, Portugal, Morocco and other destinations.
He could also afford Rolex watches and a £3,000 stay at the Atlantis hotel in Dubai.
Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly earlier told the jury the raid was carried out “with the assistance and full participation” of Measor.
“They sought to hide this by faking a robbery,” she said.
“They have then, to the most part, successfully hidden the money that was stolen.”
After the heist, Measor was signed off work on full pay and was provided with counselling for post-traumatic stress for months until he was arrested.
In messages to friends, he boasted of “milking” his employer and said it was “defo an inside job”.
Loomis drivers felt vulnerable after the theft, believing they and their families could be targeted next, the court heard.
Five other men were cleared of having any involvement in the plot.
Confiscation proceedings will take place later.
