Kenneth James Noye was born on 24 May 1947 and is an English criminal.
29 Facts About Kenneth Noye
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Kenneth Noye was acquitted in 1985 of the murder of a police officer in the grounds of his home, but was convicted in 1986 of conspiracy to handle stolen goods from the Brink's-Mat robbery and sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment, of which he served eight years in custody.
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Kenneth Noye was arrested for the murder in Spain after a two-year manhunt and sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Kenneth Noye was later released on licence from the murder sentence in 2019.
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Kenneth Noye was born in Bexleyheath, Kent, where his father ran a post office and his mother a dog racing track.
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Kenneth Noye met a barrister's legal secretary, Brenda Tremain, who later became his wife.
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Kenneth Noye's membership ceased in 1987 after he failed to pay his subscriptions for two years in succession.
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Kenneth Noye was expelled from the Freemasons when it was discovered that he had a criminal record, according to the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England.
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Meanwhile, Kenneth Noye built up a legitimate haulage business to use as cover.
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Active as a fence, Kenneth Noye was among those involved in laundering a huge quantity of stolen gold bullion taken during the Brink's-Mat robbery on 26 November 1983.
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Kenneth Noye had melted down much of the gold he had received and mixed it with copper coins in an attempt to disguise its origins, although eleven gold bars from the robbery were found hidden at his home.
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On 19 May 1996, while on release from prison on licence, Kenneth Noye was involved in a road rage incident with 21-year-old motorist Stephen Cameron on a slip road of the M25 motorway near Swanley in Kent.
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Kenneth Noye then fled the country with assistance from Palmer, who later claimed to have barely known Noye.
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Kenneth Noye lost an appeal against his extradition from Spain seven months later.
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Kenneth Noye was extradited to Britain in May 1999, nine months after his arrest, and went on trial 10 months later.
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At trial Kenneth Noye claimed not to be a violent man and again pleaded self-defence, claiming to have fled because the police hated him and he feared not receiving a fair trial.
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The judge did not recommend a tariff in open court on how long Kenneth Noye should serve, but made the usual written report to the Lord Chief Justice and the Home Secretary recommending a tariff of 16 years.
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On 10 October 2001 and again in 2004, Kenneth Noye appealed unsuccessfully against his conviction.
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On 14 October of that year, Kenneth Noye was granted a fresh appeal against his conviction for Cameron's murder, but it was rejected on 22 March 2011.
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Kenneth Noye was reported to have been moved from the Category A prison, HM Prison Whitemoor, to a Category B prison, at Lowdham Grange, in September 2011.
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Kenneth Noye was formerly at Category C HM Prison Wayland in Griston, Norfolk.
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On 13 February 2015, BBC News reported that Kenneth Noye had been granted a parole hearing.
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Kenneth Noye was refused permission to move to an open prison by Justice Secretary Michael Gove in October 2015 after such a move had been recommended by the parole board.
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Edward Fitzgerald, QC, acting for Kenneth Noye, said during the previous month's hearing that the board had "noted that he had made significant progress in changing his attitudes and tackling his behavioural problems".
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Counsel for the Justice Secretary, Tom Weisselberg, QC, said Gove had doubted Kenneth Noye had reformed, and considered there was the risk he would escape because of his connections to Spain.
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Around March 2018, Kenneth Noye was moved to HM Prison Standford Hill on the Isle of Sheppey, which is a low security prison with a day release provision for prisoners.
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In May 2019, the parole board announced that Kenneth Noye was "suitable for return to the community" and would be released from prison within about three months.
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On 6 June 2019, then aged 72, Kenneth Noye was released from prison after serving 20 years for the M25 attack.
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Kenneth Noye was portrayed by Jack Lowden in The Gold, a 2023 BBC television drama about the Brink's-Mat robbery.