iPad buried in famed London river for 5 years held crucial evidence in 2019 murder plot
For five years, an iPad sat buried at the bottom of the River Thames in London holding crucial evidence in a case involving the attempted murder of a notorious robber, authorities said.
Its discovery in 2024 helped lead to the March 24 conviction of three “hardened organized criminals” who were found guilty of conspiracy to murder, London’s Metropolitan Police said in a news release.
This story begins in 2019.
The night of the shooting
Police said Daniel Kelly and brothers Louis and Stewart Ahearne spent weeks surveiling and planning how to kill their target, identified by the BBC as Paul Allen.
Allen was involved in the 2006 Securitas depot robbery — the largest armed robbery in Britain’s history, according to the outlet.
Kelly and the Ahearne brothers used a tracking device hidden in a vehicle and an iPad — the one later found in the Thames — to track Allen’s movements, authorities said.
On July 11, 2019, under the cover of darkness, the trio drove to the Woodford Green home where Allen was staying, according to police.
Kelly and Louis Ahearne crept into the garden of an adjacent property, giving them a clear view of Allen’s home — and Allen standing in his kitchen, authorities said.
The men fired six shots, one of which struck Allen, leaving him “fighting for his life,” authorities said. Allen survived but was left permanently paralyzed, according to police.
DNA evidence in the garden, CCTV footage and digital evidence tied the three men to the shooting, and between October 2019 and January 2020, they were all charged in connection with the murder plot, police said.
Defense statement leads police to iPad
According to reporting from the BBC, it was Louis Ahearne who pointed authorities in the direction of the discarded iPad in his defense statement.
Louis said CCTV footage from that night would show Kelly disappearing in the direction of the Thames, according to the outlet.
Investigators found the iPad, which data showed belonged to Kelly, just months before the three men went to trial, and on it, digital evidence that linked GPS tracking devices to Kelly and Louis Ahearne, the outlet reported.
Authorities did not provide a motive for the shooting.
“This attack may look like the plot to a Hollywood blockbuster but the reality is something quite different,” Detective Superintendent Matt Webb said in the release. “This was horrific criminality.”
Authorities said the three men have a history of international crime.
A month before the shooting, the trio broke into the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva and stole several historical artifacts, including a Ming Dynasty vase, police said.
They then flew to Hong Kong, where they sold at least one of the items to an auction house, Sky News reported.
