'The Bank Job' Was Inspired by a Real-Life Heist in 1971

In 1971, a group of criminals carried out what’s become known as the Baker Street bank robbery, one of the most infamous and mysterious bank robberies in British history—and decades later, the heist continues to be shrouded in secrecy. With many unanswered questions about the crime, it has paved the way for rumors, conspiracy theories and even a blockbuster movie. 

The notorious robbery was months in the making, masterminded by career criminal Anthony Gavin, as seen on History’s Greatest Heists with Pierce Brosnan. Inspired by a Sherlock Holmes short story, Gavin planned to tunnel underground into the subterranean vault of Lloyds Bank on Baker Street in London in order to ransack safety deposit boxes belonging to celebrities and politicians.

After gathering a highly skilled crew to accompany him, Gavin had an accomplice named Benjamin Wolfe rent a leather goods shop two doors down from the bank. The group then got to work on digging a narrow, 40-foot-long tunnel that ran underneath a chicken restaurant and into the bank, pushing aside over eight tons of debris. After weeks of work, the crew finally reached their destination. 

On the night of September 11, when the bank was empty for the weekend and the alarm system was shut off due to nearby construction, the gang of thieves used explosives to enter the vault through the tunnel. Inside the vault, their heist almost came to a halt when an amateur radio enthusiast, Robert Rowlands, overheard the criminals communicating over walkie-talkie. He contacted the police, who did not believe him at first, delaying their response. 

When officers were finally dispatched, it was unclear which bank was being robbed and hundreds of banks in the area were inspected. With no obvious sign of entry at the entrance to Lloyds Bank and a time-locked seal still in place, authorities did not believe security had been breached.   

Ultimately, the thieves made away with an estimated £3 million, equal to over $50 million today, only some of which was recovered. Gavin, Wolfe and several other men were prosecuted, although it is believed that others were never captured or able to use their newfound wealth to bribe their way out of prison time. 

Jason Statham starred in the 2008 movie The Bank Job, which was based on the events of the Baker Street robbery. The Bank Job is set in London in 1971 like the real-life robbery. It follows a ragtag group of criminals from all walks of life who work together to tunnel to an underground vault at a Lloyds Bank. While it took inspiration from the heist, the creative team behind the film fictionalized parts of the plot, taking creative liberties. 

In order to make the plot as accurate as possible, co-screenwriter Dick Clement worked closely with executive producer George McIndoe, who served as a source on the burglary. McIndoe said he met at least two of the real robbers and discussed their crimes, per The Telegraph.

“Obviously, we’ve changed the names and large parts of our story are invented—they have to be, because no one knows the exact details,” Clement told the outlet. “All we could rely on was what George McIndoe told us.”

While the characters’ names and backstories differed from those of the true criminals, both the film and the actual incident saw millions stolen from private safety deposit boxes. Among the items discovered in the film are explicit photographs of government officials, which were allegedly also found during the heist in real life. Though the characters in the film use these photos as leverage, in actuality, the images were allegedly left behind. 

“What they did find were compromising pictures of what was a famous 1970s politician in a compromising situation that they deliberately left …out so police could see them,” investigative journalist Paul Lashmar said on History’s Greatest Heists.

The film also includes the moment the heist is uncovered by an amateur radio operator, who contacts authorities. Like the true story, the gang gets away before police discover which vault has been breached. 

While the film aligns with most of the primary details of the real heist, many elements were also fabricated. With much documentation of the case locked under embargo at the National Archives, writers had to rely on McIndoe and flesh out ideas with embellishments.

The opening scene of the film immediately marks the start of the writers’ decisions to blend fact and fiction. Viewers see Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom being secretly photographed in a compromising position during a trip to the Caribbean. These explicit photos end up in the hands of revolutionary and activist Michael X, who stores the pictures in a Lloyds Bank safety deposit box, one that the British Security Services, aka MI5, become very interested in finding. (These photos are separate from the photos of the 1970s politician.)

While the real Princess Margaret did take trips to the Caribbean, there is no evidence that there were any compromising photos of her taken during the visits and stored in the vault. These alleged photos have never been uncovered, but McIndoe maintains they were indeed discovered in a safety deposit box.

“The idea of the photographs was based on a direct conversation I had with George,” Clement told The Telegraph. “He told me the story, but obviously I can’t prove that it’s true.”

Meanwhile, an alleged perpetrator of the heist who spoke to The Mirror under conditions of anonymity would not admit to finding any photos of Princess Margaret. The only photos he confessed to finding were that of child sexual abuse material, which were left behind in the vault for authorities to discover. 

Rowlands, who intercepted the walkie talkie transmission, also denied the existence of photos of Princess Margaret, telling The Guardian, “The film is an amusing series of misconceptions, dragging in royalty.”

Filmmakers also fabricated the character of Martine Love. In the movie, the former model, who is romantically involved with an MI5 agent, is tasked with assembling a team to lead a heist at the bank in order to retrieve the photos of Princess Margaret. In real life, there was no such person and the heist was not affiliated with MI5 in any way. 

The film also references a D-Notice that was issued by the government just days after the heist, which effectively prevents the press from discussing the crime due to sensitive government information and photographs found in the vault. The existence of a D-Notice has been widely debated for years, but some journalists do not believe it existed. 

“At the time, the story just vanished from the papers, although I don’t remember people commenting on that,” Clement told The Telegraph. “It was only in hindsight, when we looked up the back numbers of the papers, that we could see what a big splash it made, and then three days later there was nothing, which was an extraordinary thing. You’d have expected people to follow up a story like that.”

Although Clement firmly believes in the D-Notice, History’s Greatest Heists showcases press clippings about the heist that extend far beyond the few days after the crime was discovered.  

As much of the legal documentation surrounding the crime is locked away in the National Archives, the incident continues to lend itself to conspiracy theories. The release of the movie only fueled these rumors.