Raid accused 'duped over camera'

Paul Allen denies charges of conspiracy to rob, kidnap and possess firearms

A man who helped to buy a miniature camera used to plan the �53m Securitas raid in Kent has told the Old Bailey he did not know what it was for.

Paul Allen, 30, of Chatham, who went with Lee Murray, 29, to buy the device said he thought Mr Murray wanted to spy on people in the gym or his wife.

Cagefighter Mr Murray is currently in a Moroccan jail.

Mr Allen and Michael Demetris, of Bromley, London, deny conspiracy to rob, kidnap, and possess firearms.

The court heard that Mr Allen travelled with Mr Murray to a shop in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, to buy the 50 pence-sized device, which was later used by an inside man to film the Securitas depot.

Maybe he wanted to spy on his wife

Paul Allen

But Mr Allen said he was unwittingly involved in the purchase and did not know that Mr Murray, his friend for more than 20 years, was planning the robbery.

Cross-examined on Tuesday by Sir John Nutting QC, prosecuting, Mr Allen said he thought his friend planned "to enter a gym and spy on some of the fighters".

He added: "Maybe he wanted to spy on his wife. That's what people buy these cameras for.

'Starting business'

"One thing he didn't say that he was going to use this for was what it was used for."

The father-of-three, of Huntersfield Close, also said he had never been to the cash depot or to the road outside it.

Mr Allen was arrested in Morocco with Mr Murray in 2006, but has said he had nothing to do with the raid and had gone to north Africa to help his friend start a property business.

He has also accused Mr Murray of using him in the plot.

Five people were jailed earlier this year for their part in the robbery.

The trial continues.