EDDIE Maher joined Securicor in September 1992 after lying about previous convictions on his application form, it emerged today.

During the same year, the former soldier, firefighter and pub landlord had trained as a locksmith.

His former Securicor colleagues told police that, just days before the £1.2 million theft, Maher had requested the Felixstowe run as it would allow him to finish early for a hospital appointment.

At about 9.30am on January 22 1993, the armoured van made its first delivery to Lloyds Bank in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk.

Maher remained in the van while another guard made a delivery to the bank.

When the other guard returned, he found the van missing.

The vehicle was later discovered abandoned in the town’s Micklegate Road with just £2,100 in coins remaining.

Police believe Maher unloaded about 30 sacks of notes into a Toyota Previa Space Cruiser which was later found at a viewing area at nearby Landguard Fort.

This car had been stolen from east London in November 1992.

A second getaway vehicle, an Opel Oascona, was later found torched.

In the hours after the theft, detectives thought Maher and his family might have been kidnapped, but a search of their house in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, showed no sign of a struggle.

Detectives discovered that Maher’s partner, Deborah Brett, and their son, Lee, had left the UK the previous day and booked into a hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.

Every port and airport was monitored but Maher managed to leave the country as hundreds of police and border officials searched for him.

Interpol was alerted, a reward of up to £100,000 was placed on his head, detectives travelled to Cyprus and investigations were carried out in the West Indies in an attempt to find him.

Detective Inspector David Giles, from Suffolk Police, said: “As investigations at the time went, it was as good as it got. But policing has changed a lot since then and we have better resources available to us.

“Only a handful of people know how Eddie Maher got out of the UK and they’re not telling us.

“It seems likely that he did not carry out and plan this all on his own, and our inquiries are continuing.”