The heist was the inspiration for a 2008 film, The Bank Job. It includes a plotline in which the British Security Services want to retrieve some compromising photographs of Princess Margaret, allegedly held in a security box by Trinidadian militant gangster Michael X.
The obvious solution was to get a gang to tunnel into the vault.
The storyline boosted a rumour that appeared in newspapers, in which an anonymous “friend” said Reader was definitely involved in the heist and had told him he found photos showing a leading politician abusing children.
Reader apparently left the images “scattered on the floor of the vault” for the police to find.
There has been no evidence this was true.
Another rumour was that the government imposed a “D-notice” – now called a DSMA-notice – on the story.
This hinges on a lack of coverage of the story, with many claiming it disappeared from the news agenda.
A DSMA-notice is issued to prevent inadvertent public disclosure of information that would compromise UK military and intelligence operations.
It is not usually used to silence news stories about bank jobs that have already happened.
The lack of published stories, though, isn’t quite true. Naturally, interest died down, but the raid was still being reported in national and regional papers throughout the decade.
The rumour may gave started with radio ham Mr Rowlands, who said police had snatched a phone out of his grasp while he spoke to a newspaper about his part in the case.
He said the officer had told the editor he wasn’t allowed to publish anything.
Years later, Mr Rowlands suggested the police were trying to cover up what appeared to be their own incompetence.
The only mystery that remains is what is in the 800 pages of sealed documents at the National Archives. They are due to be released in 47 years time.
