Emir Hysenaj, 28, of Crowborough, East Sussex, used a high-tech camera the size of a 50p piece to secretly film inside the Tonbridge cash depot where he worked. It would later become the target for the GB pound 53m raid.
The gang got away with what was described as a “king’s ransom” in cash during the raid in February 2006, but a further GB pound 153m was left behind because it would not fit into their hired getaway van.
Also convicted today at the Old Bailey were: Lea Rusha, 35, a former roofer from Tunbridge Wells; unemployed Jetmir Bucpapa, 26, of Tonbridge; car salesman Stuart Royle, 49, of Maidstone; and Roger Coutts, 30, a garage owner from Welling, south-east London. All denied conspiracy to possess firearms, conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to rob.
Car dealer John Fowler, 59, from Staplehurst, Kent was cleared of all charges and the jury acquitted a seventh man, Keith Borer, 54, of Maidstone, Kent, who was charged with handling stolen money.
During the night raid, depot manager Colin Dixon and his family were kidnapped at gunpoint by men posing as police officers. They had told him he was being arrested for speeding offences.
CCTV footage seen by the jury of seven women and three men showed armed robbers holding the Dixon family and 14 members of staff hostage as they loaded cash into the getaway vehicle.
Armed with a Skorpion machine, an AK47 assault rifle, a pistol, a pump-action shotgun and a handgun, the raiders told captives, “You will die if you do not do as you are told,” the Old Bailey heard.
The whole raid took one hour and six minutes.
Dedicated Micros, which operated CCTV recorders at the site, said it had cooperated with police throughout the investigation by providing access to the footage.
“It is important with any investigation to be able to access this valuable material and for us as manufacturers of such systems to provide support and assistance to the authorities,” said Pauline Norstrom, the company’s head of marketing.
“This positive outcome underlines the importance of CCTV in the fight against crime of all types.”
Gary Smith, national secretary with the GMB union, said the crime should not be romanticised.
“These are not gentleman villains from an old Ealing film. We have a huge number of attacks that take place against individuals working in the CVIT Sector in this country. The impact of these attacks on the often low paid workers in this sector cannot be overstated.”
Just GB pound 21m of the money stolen has so far been recovered, but a large quantity of the remainder is thought to be tied up in cash and assets in northern Cyprus and Morocco.
Kent Police told the court that the total cost of the investigation into the raid exceeded GB pound 5m and was unprecedented in its scale. One key figure is thought to remain at large.