Loughton incinerator thefts

The Loughton incinerator thefts occurred between 1988 and 1992 at the Bank of England's incinerator plant at Debden in Loughton, Essex – four employees of the plant stole more than GB£600,000 in a series of regular thefts. The four participants and their spouses were arrested in 1992, with only one being prosecuted in criminal court. In a civil suit, the remaining members of the group were ordered to repay half a million pounds to the bank. The story of the case has been adapted into two feature-length films.

Between 1988 and 1992, four employees of the Bank of England's incinerator plant at Debden in Loughton, Essex, conspired to steal around £600,000 in banknotes that were due to be destroyed, in a series of thefts. They changed padlocks on locked doors in order to be able to steal from piles of notes which had been taken out of circulation. One participant, Christine Gibson, smuggled the notes out of the plant by stuffing them into her underwear. Gibson initially worked in collaboration with just two other employees, Kenneth Longman and Michael Nairne, before the trio were approached and joined by a fourth individual, Kevin Winwright, who acted as their "look-out" and distracted the guards. During this time, the group and their spouses lived a "life of Riley", spending their gains on expensive cars, motorcycles and jewellery.

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