ROBBERS who escaped with nearly £53 million from a depot in Kent were forced to leave behind nearly £154 million more because they didn’t have enough space in their getaway van, a court has been told.

The Old Bailey also heard how a mother tried to shield her young child with her body, fearing both were about to be killed by a gang who had kidnapped her as part of the heist.

Lynn Dixon, the wife of Securitas manager Colin Dixon, and their young child were snatched from their Herne Bay home several hours after Mr Dixon was kidnapped on his way home from work.

Mr Dixon sent a text message to his wife to say he was on his way home at around 5.30pm on February 21, but never arrived.

Prosecutor Sir John Nutting told the court that Mr Dixon’s journey was interrupted by the kidnappers, who were laying in wait for him near Thurnham Lane, Bearsted, near Maidstone.

Having forced him out of his car, which was later dumped at the Cock Horse pub in Detling, the kidnappers, disguised as policemen, handcuffed him.

Sir John told the court the kidnappers drove to a layby in Mereworth, where Mr Dixon was transferred into a white transit van and had his feet tied, his spectacles confiscated and tape stuck over his eyes.

The court heard that at 8.40pm, two men, also disguised as police officers, knocked on the door of the Dixons’ family home.

Mrs Dixon was already anxious about her husband’s whereabouts having expected him home several hours earlier.

The men lured her and her young child from her home saying Mr Dixon was in hospital having been injured in a car accident.

Once in the kidnappers’ car, Mrs Dixon became suspicious and screamed. She was silenced by one of the men who put a gloved hand over her mouth.

The prosecution say all three were taken to Fowler’s home, Elderdown Farm in Staplehurst.

Here, a terrified Mr Dixon was interrogated about the Securitas building in Tonbridge.

All three were then taken by the gang to the depot, with Mrs Dixon travelling separately from her husband in the back of a Renault lorry, guarded by a balaclava armed robber.

"What were the thoughts that passed through that child’s mind during the course of that journey? It is perhaps better not to dwell," said Sir John. "Fears of the mother can be, but dimly, imagined."

The court heard how Mr Dixon, accompanied by a robber disguised as a policeman, was used to gain entry into the depot.

CCTV evidence shows seven robbers inside. They had with them a Skorpion machine pistol, a pump action shot gun, a hand gun and something similar to an AK47 assault rifle. Fourteen employees were also taken hostage by the gang.

Sir John said: "During the course of their ordeal, many were convinced that if they did not do as they were told they would be maimed or killed.

"The threats used and the weapons present left workers at the depot that night in no doubt that the robbers meant what they said."

While this was happening, Mrs Dixon and her child were crouched in the back of the lorry in the depot loading bay.

When the lorry parked up, the armed guard stood over them holding his gun, causing Mrs Dixon to fear for both her and her child’s life.

The robbery lasted one hour and six minutes and finished with the gang escaping with £52,996,760 and all the hostages, including the Dixon family, locked in cages in the depot.

Despite the massive haul a further £153,833,020.73 was left at the depot. According to Sir John, the reason so much was left was simply that the robbers could not fit anymore into their fully loaded lorry.

Seven men and one woman stand trial at the Old Bailey accused of being part of the gang which masterminded and carried out the Securitas robbery in February 2006.

Lea Rusha, of Lambersart Close, Southborough, Stuart Royle, from Allen Street, Maidstone, Jetmir Bucpapa, of Hadlow Road, Tonbridge, Roger Coutts, of The Green, Welling, John Fowler, of Chart Hill Road, Staplehurst, Ermir Hysenaj, of New Road, Crowborough, and Michelle Hogg, of Brinklow Crescent, Woolwich, have all pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to have in their possession a firearm.

A seventh man, Keith Borer, from Hampstead Lane, Yalding, stands accused of dishonestly receiving £6,100 of stolen Securitas money, which he denies.

The case continues.