KENNETH Noye was involved in one of Britain’s most notorious robberies before being jailed for a brutal road rage killing on the M25.
The convicted murderer, 76, spent eight years in prison for his role in the infamous Brink Mat’s robbery in July 1986.
News Group Newspapers LtdKenneth Noye pictured on a day release from prison in April 2018[/caption]
PANoye stabbed a man to death on the M25 shortly after being released from prison for his involvement in the notorious robbery[/caption]
Not known, clear with picture deskNoye’s sprawling villa in Spain, which he had been renting out earlier this year[/caption]
Not known, clear with picture deskhe property in Tarifa, Andalucía, is sat on a clifftop[/caption]
PA:Press AssociationStephen Cameron, who was murdered by Noye in a road rage incident in 1996[/caption]
PAThe warehouse near Heathrow targeted by the robbers in the infamous Brink’s Mat heist[/caption]
Around £26million of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was taken in the raid – which Noye helped to launder.
He was freed in 1994, but was placed behind bars again when he stabbed to death Stephen Cameron on an M25 slip road in May 1996.
Noye fled to Spain, but was located two years later and was handed a life sentence for murder in 1999.
He also fatally stabbed undercover Met detective John Fordham during the robbery probe in 1985, but was cleared of murder on the basis of self-defence.
His life in crime is said to have started as a three-year-old stealing apples from a neighbour’s garden, before becoming a bully in secondary school.
Noye grew up to become a prolific thief in the 1970s, before turning his attention to fencing – namely selling stolen goods at a profit.
He was then recruited to launder gold stolen in the Brink’s Mat robbery, helping to smelter bullion in a friend’s basement.
Noye was jailed after a murder probe into the stabbing of DC Fordham turned up evidence of his involvement in the bullion robbery.
He was found guilty of conspiracy to handle the stolen gold and was sentenced to 14 years in prison, of which he served eight, as well as being fined £500,000 and ordered to pay £200,000 in costs.
But it wasn’t long before the notorious criminal found himself back behind bars.
He knifed 21-year-old Stephen to death at the Swanley interchange of the M25 in Kent on May 19, 1996.
The crook, then 48, was brawling with the amateur kickboxer when he pulled out a small knife and repeatedly stabbed him.
He enjoyed a roast with his family the next day before going to the pub with a friend.
But the following day he fled the UK and travelled across Europe, Africa and the Caribbean before he was eventually caught in Spain.
He was extradited back to the UK and was sentenced to life imprisonment, before being released 21 years later.
A year after he was freed, Noye was seen at the interchange where he fatally stabbed Stephen.
He is now understood to be living at a property in Sevenoaks, Kent.
The flat is also said to be home to the head office of the Amazon Forest People, The Mirror reports.
The company, which Noye’s sons have been involved with, claims to play a role in helping to curb deforestation in Brazil.
It has earned up to £40m, a World Rainforest Movement charity report has suggested.
Amazon Forest People operates by selling carbon credits to companies wanting to make up for any pollution they are responsible for.
But the firm is said to have been suspended amid claims of “land grabbing and is being sued for £800,000.
Noye’s son Kevin Tremain claims his dad has no involvement with the company.
Kevin reportedly founded the company, owns more than 75 per cent of its shares and helped Noye move into a flat at the property.
But the firm is listed on Companies House as “dormant”, meaning it has not traded for at least a year.
A strapline on its LinkedIn page reads: “We strive to better the lives of the communities, wildlife and environment in the Amazon Rainforest.”
It confirms the firm is based in Kent, where Noye is understood to have been living in July 2022, as well as February and September earlier this year.
But the website appears to have been taken down.
Avoided Deforestation Project (Manaus) Ltd is understood to be the offshore firm behind Amazon Forest People, but it is registered in Guernsey and so the identities of its owners are not revealed.
Noye, who was wealthy prior to the Brink Mat’s heist due to his life in crime, also owns a £1.7m Spanish villa.
The property in Tarifa, Andalucía, is sat on a clifftop and overlooks the Atlantic Straights and Morocco.
Noye was renting out the villa on Airbnb earlier this year for £340 a night, before taking it down from the website after details emerged online.
It is believed he hid at the villa while on the run for the murder of Cameron 27 years ago.
Police suspect Noye bought the property with profits from fencing part of the £26m stolen in the Brink’s-Mat robbery.
The house boasts an outdoor pool, six bedrooms and sits in an “unbeatable location” with views of Costa de la Luz.
In 2021 it was reported Noye had put the sprawling home on the market for £1.6million.
British police were unable to seize the villa, named Las Dunas, under the Proceeds of Crime Act because it is outside the UK’s jurisdiction.
While Noye was serving life, it was looked after by his sons Brett and Kevin.
They spent around £150,000 extending the property. It had been rented out until recent years.
Noye’s former Kent manor also went on sale for a whopping £2.8m in March 2018.
He built Hollywood Cottage – since renamed Oakwood House – to hide gold bullion stolen in the robbery with the proceeds of a lucrative smuggling empire
And Noye once intimidated neighbours by walking a pet lion in the estate’s 20-acre grounds.
The estate is flanked by high walls and was protected by an elaborate network of CCTV cameras when he owned it.
In January 1985 a pair of undercover cops – including DC Fordham – crept into the vast garden to investigate the robbery, but were soon surrounded by Noye’s three snarling rottweilers.
One of the officers escaped over the wall – but Fordham was savagely attacked by the knife-wielding gang boss.
He was stabbed in the heart with such force that the blade severed a rib clean in two.
The detective died on the way to hospital with six separate knife wounds.
Noye later was found not guilty of murder after persuading a jury that he acted in self-defence.
It comes as it was revealed earlier this year that police are still probing the execution of a man who gave evidence against Noye is still being probed by detectives more than 20 years on.
Alan Decabral gave evidence at Noye’s Old Bailey trial after he stabbed Stephen Cameron to death.
He was executed six months later in broad daylight while Noye was in Whitemoor prison, in Cambridgeshire.
Police feared Alan had been murdered in a gangland hit – and are still hunting for who they believe was his hitman.
Not known, clear with picture deskNoye was renting out the villa on Airbnb earlier this year for £340 a night[/caption]
LinkedinNoye’s son Kevin Tremain is said to have founded Amazon Forest People[/caption]
BBCDC John Fordham was stabbed to death by Noye, but he was cleared of murder on the basis of self-defence[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
