Lee Murray Sentenced To Ten Years In Prison For Masterminding Biggest Bank Heist In UK History

I know, you’re thinking I accidentally replaced Henry Hill’s name with Lee Murray.

I didn’t.

Much like the infamous Lufthansa heist which was portrayed in Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece Goodfellas, the story of former mixed martial arts fighter Lee Murray and his role in the largest bank robbery in the UK’s history is very real.

BBC News reports that Murray has been sentenced to serve 10 years in a Moroccan prison for the crime he committed back in 2006.

MMA Mania provides further detail on the bank job:

“Lightning” bolted for northern Africa shortly after he and six other associates stole more than £53 million from the Securitas cash depot in Kent, England.

It was, and still is, the largest cash heist to ever go down in the history of the nation.

For years, British prosecutors tried to extradite the ex-fighter while they successfully tracked down and jailed his accomplices; however, the Moroccan government refused to ship him back because his father was of Moroccan descent.

Instead, Murray -- who was already serving three years in prison for an unrelated incident -- had his case on the bank robbery charges heard in a Moroccan court.

He is scheduled for release in 2020.

Bloody Elbow talks about what kind of potential Lee possessed:

Lee Murray was a very gifted MMA fighter. He combined speed, power and agility in a frightening combination. His striking and submission games were both to be feared. He went the distance with Anderson Silva and unlike three of the last five UFC middleweight title contenders, Anderson wasn’t able to coast for a minute of that fight.

Had Murray been able to stay on the straight and narrow he could very well be on top of the MMA world today.

It really is a truly amazing story, one that coincidentally enough, you would see in movies. SI.com’s 2008 feature story on Lee Murray entitled “Breaking the Bank” is indeed going to film.

Not for the right reasons to most people, but Lee “Lightning” Murray’s story is one that will live forever, and it might just be the way he wanted it.