ON FRIDAY January 22, 1993, Eddie Maher is understood to have arrived at work in a taxi, telling people his car had broken down.

There was no internet banking and a lot fewer cashpoints than there are today, so there was sure to be plenty of cash on the van prior to the weekend.

Little did they suspect that Maher’s T-reg reddish-brown Opel Ascona was probably already in Felixstowe waiting to be used as a getaway vehicle.

Maher and his colleague made their first delivery of the day to Lloyds Bank in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, at around 9.30am.

While his co-worker was inside the bank, Maher drove off.

The armoured van was subsequently found abandoned in Micklegate Road, Felixstowe.

A total of £1,172,500 had been stolen, although £2,100 in coins were left inside.

The money was loaded into a Toyota Previa stolen in east London in November 1992, before the vehicle was dumped at a viewing area opposite Landguard Fort.

Maher’s epaulettes were found nearby.

His Opel was later discovered burned out at Mead Gate Road, Nazeing, near Harlow, four days later.

Maher’s partner, Deborah Brett, had flown to the United States the day before the theft with their three-year-old son Lee.

Miss Brett, then 27, stayed in the Buckminster Hotel in Boston on January 21, 1993, but is understood to have left there on January 24.

It was said they were going to spend time in the US on holiday. But they never returned to the UK and subsequent inquiries by Suffolk detectives led to a dead end.

Maher, Miss Brett, and Lee were not heard of again until Maher’s arrest last February.