Supreme Court declines robbery pilot’s plea
Oct 16, 2013
The Swedish Supreme Court has declined the convicted helicopter pilot’s appeal of his eight-year prison sentence issued by the Svea Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court states that it has reviewed all the documents without finding reasons to motivate an appeal.
On 7 October 2010 Södertörn District Court originally sentenced the now 38-year-old pilot to seven years in prison for aggravated robbery. The verdict was strengthened in the Svea Court of Appeal, to eight years in prison, in 2011. The pilot is still claiming his innocence.
The helicopter pilot is one of seven felons that were convicted for the famous helicopter heist that took place on 23 September 2009. A Jet Ranger (SE-HON) was stolen from its hangar at Mellingeholm Airfield in Norrtälje in the early morning. It was flown to Frescati/Stora Skuggan moments prior to 05:00 and soon continued to the G4S Cash Deposit in Västberga, a few kilometers southwest of downtown Stockholm. The stolen helicopter landed on the roof of the deposit building, inserted three robbers with ladders and weapons, took off to wait for the money to be collected, returned to pick up the gang and the money, and left to the southwest; all in roughly 30 minutes. In the meantime the police set up a perimeter around the robbery in progress, but they were unable to interfere with the helicopter due to the risk of harming innocent bystanders. The Swedish Police Wings’s own regional EC135 helicopters were grounded after two boxes with dummy explosives had been placed outside the entrance doors to the hangar at Myttinge Heliport the same morning.
The heist became an instant top story worldwide, with prominent media like CNN, BBC and AP reporting about the robbery. The robbers got away with an estimated 39 million SEK, approx €3,86 million EUR at Sep 2009 exchange rate.
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