Michael Relton

Michael Weber Relton (born 1938, South AfricaThough a search of Birth, Deaths and Marriage records Michael W. Relton was born in Hartlepool in this year.) was a London-based solicitor imprisoned for his role at the centre of laundering money from the 1983 Brink's-MAT robbery.
==Background==
The son of a solicitor, Michael Relton was educated at Westminster School and qualified as a solicitor in 1961.Paul Keel, Brink's-Mat Robbery: Cash obsession drove lawyer over borderline, The Guardian, 8 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis). In 1970, he was found guilty by Law Society disciplinary proceedings for misuse of money in a client's account,Solicitor 'kept past hidden from bullion jury', The Guardian, 4 June 1988 (accessed via Nexis). and suspended for six months.
However, by the early 1970s he had developed a his own practice and become a leading criminal defence lawyer in London. Among his clients was the Police Federation, and he acted for 36 officers - all but one of them being acquitted. Many of these officers had been accused of corruption and misconduct during the clean up of the Metropolitan Police under Commissioner Robert Marks in the 1970s, and later during the Operation Countryman corruption investigation (1978-1982).
By 1977 he was a partner in the firm of Lynn, Relton & Co based at 120 Horseferry Road, Westminster, London, SW1.The earliest mention of the firm discovered occurs in September 1977 when it registered a change of name by deed poll for an individual. See Notices, The London Gazette, 19 September 1977 (accessed 1 July 2016.
==Property deals and corruption networks==
Among some sections of the police, including senior police officers, it was believed, that Relton had developed a 'coterie' of police officers and retired detectives, particularly through a pair of ex-officers, the Ross brothers, and that Relton was passing on information from police contacts to criminals. A number of such links can be identified through property deals Relton was involved in.
===Links to Gordon Parry===
In 1972 / 1973, Relton met South London criminal Gordon John Parry when he acted as Parry's defence solicitor in a cannabis smuggling case.Paul Keel, Brink's-Mat Robbery: A trail of deceit made millions for false friends, The Guardian, 8 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis). Parry received three years imprisonment but the men remained in touch. On his release, Parry engaged in successful property deals - with financial backing from Relton - including the profitable purchase of a hotel on the Isle of Wight and the development of a recording studio in New Cross. In 1981 the recording studio was turned into a successful nightclub, with Relton remaining a partner in the venture. Parry did not pay tax on these deals, something Relton said he had warned about.
===Briefs Winebar===
An early deal of Relton's was the purchase of Briefs winebar in 1978 with a partner who was described in the book Untouchables, by Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynn, as 'a crooked businessman'. This was opposite the Inner London Crown Court in Elephant & Castle.Briefs was located at 34-36 Newington Causeway, SE1 and the building demolised in 2000. See J Adams, The CENTRAL London Pubs list, PigsEar.org.uk / East London and City CAMRA, November 2015 (accessed 28 July 2016). There he would entertain both clients from the criminal underworld and journalists.
In 1980 he sold it to a trio of police officers, brothers Michael Ross and John Ross, and Paul Rexstrew. In 1982 Relton would successfully defend these three officers when they were being prosecuted on charges of accepting money with menaces and fitting up armed robbers - though they would later be sacked by a disciplinary board. Relton remained close to the group, with Rexstrew becoming a clerk in his law firm and going on to play a future role in the scandals around Brink's MAT and police corruption. A fourth shareholder in Briefs was another of Relton's clerks, the convicted fraudster Emmanuel "Ted" Wein.
John Ross told Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynn, authors of Untouchables", a notable expose of police corruption:
:: The Flying Squad and the robbers used to drink together [in Briefs]. They did the same job. There were no problems because they all earned money out of bank robberies. 
Ross would be named many years later as part of a group of men using contacts with in the police to pass on information to The News of the World, and he would be linked to police corruption through the network around Southerns Investigations.More On News Corp Connections To The Police Corruption Arrests, Brown Moses Blog, 23 May 2012 (accessed 28 July 2016).
One of those employed at Brief's was former armed robber and police supergrass Maurice "Mo" O'Mahoney. He had been a regular visitor to Briefs and was friends with Michael Ross. With corrupt contacts in SO11 (the Metropolitan Police's intelligence unit later run by Ray Adams), he sold intelligence on to leading underworld figures. He was also friends with Flying Squad detective Peter Atkins who would be a leading figure in the Brink's-MAT investigation (see below). O'Mahoney would later talk of his own role working on behalf Relton in the Brink's-MAT money laundering operation (see below).
===Dock's Diner===
Following the sale of Briefs, Relton and businessman Martin King would purchase the nearby Docks Diner (located between Tower Bridge and Guy's Hospital). According to author James Morton, Dock's was said to have hosted sex parties as an enticement to persuade businessmen to invest in development schemes. 
Underworld fixer Martin King was an ex-Metropolitan detective who would play a significant role in police corruption scandals during the mid 1990s, when he was closely associated with Commander Ray Adams and Duncan Hanrahan. In the late 1990s he and Hanrahan were jailed for corrupting serving officers. At the time of his arrest he was represented by Paul Rexstrew.
==Money laundering for the Brink's-MAT robbery==
===Background: robbery and laundering the gold=== 
In November 1983, a gang lead by Micky McAvoy and Brian Robinson robbed the Brink's-MAT facility near Heathrow, taking £26 million in gold and other valuables, the largest robbery of its kind. McAvoy, Robinson and others were captured soon afterwards, and were convicted in 1984. Control of the gold and its disposal then passed to a close associate of McAvoy, Brian Perry. Perry in turn recruited Kenneth Noye and Gordon Parry (Perry's daughter was in a relationship with Parry's son at the time). Though the network of those laundering the proceedings eventually became extensive, Perry, Parry and Noye remained at the heart of it.
Noye organised the gold to be smelted down and converted to cash. For this he utilised a network of contacts including Jean Savage, her lover John 'Little Legs' Lloyd and her friend Patrick Clark to deposit cash into various UK high streets banks.Four who laundered the Brink's-MAT millions are jailed, Daily Mail, 18 August 1992 (accessed via Nexis).David Connett, Police traced laundered money around the world, The Independent, 18 August 1992 (accessed via Nexis). It is not known how much contact Relton had with this first team of money launderers based around Noye.
A second team was run by Parry, whose role was to take the cash generated by the gold smelting and launder it.David Connett, Police traced laundered money around the world: Detectives described it as a 'typical Old Kent Road armed robbery' - except that this gang had pounds 26m worth of gold to dispose of, The Independent, 17 August 1992 (accessed 11 July 2016).Wensley Clark, The Curse of Brink's MAT, Quercus, 2012. In early 1984 he turned to his business partner, Michael Relton, for help in setting up off-shore accounts and companies.
===The Relton-Parry laundering network===
One of Relton's first acts was to introduce Parry to the branch of HSBC in Zurich; he then helped him deal with banks in Liechtenstein and Jersey. The process grew rapidly, and by August 1984, £2.8 million in cash had been deposited at HSBC Zurich alone - this was done in a numbered account codenamed 'Burton' after the actor Richard Burton. Through a network of numbered bank accounts in Liechtenstein and Zurich, £7.5 million of cash was laundered back into the UK to create a property portfolio worth £18 million. To facilitate this, Relton and Parry created two off-shore vehicles in 1984: Melchester Holdings, registered in Panama and Selective Estates in Jersey. Selective Estates in particular would be a key company through which they managed business deals.
One of their first investments was the re-development of cottages owned by Cheltenham Ladies College.Solicitor 'invested Brink's-Mat raid cash in docklands boom', The Guardian, 16 April 1988 (accessed via Nexis). This deal was made in July 1984 and conducted by Selective Estates using money taken from the 'Burton' account in Zurich.
Much of the deals were based around the booming re-development of the Docklands area of London. At the time, the London Docklands was earmarked for re-development, and was being promoted to international property speculators by the then Tory government. One of the Parry-Relton deals was the purchase of New Caledonian Wharf for £0.75 million in February 1985 and sold a year later for £1.75 million. Other deals included Globe Wharf, purchased for £1.6 million, and Cyclops Wharf, purchased for £2.7 million, though these would be seized by insurance companies chasing the stolen proceeds.Stewart Tendler & Michael Horsnell, Brink's-Mat: the bullion trail; A new breed of crook; The property deals; Spectrum, The Times, 8 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis). Another Selective Estates investment was in South Quay, Wapping. Foreign deals included a large property development in Málaga and the Costa del Sol in Spain, as well as others across Europe and America. In total the police investigation identified around 30 property deals relating to the stolen gold.
Relton was at the heart of the money laundering schemes, managing their complex finances. He had power of attorney over the foreign bank accounts and was a co-beneficiary of one off-shore company for 25% of its profits. As such, the police consider him to be part of the 'Gold Conduit' as they named it.
Brian Perry was a silent partner acting as representative of the interests of the jailed robbers, while Parry organised the actual property deals. Others were brought in as needed, such as north London accountant Joseph Medayil, car dealer Michael John Osborn, property developer Stephen Donovan and antiques dealers John and Anne Elcombe. Medayil had previously done business with Relton and Parry; together with Relton, he assisted both the former wife of Micky McAvoy, Jacqueline, and his new wife Kathleen McAvoy nee Meacock to purchase properties with the proceeds. John Elcombe, a cousin to Parry, was used to courier money through regular trips to Europe.Paul Keel, Brink's-Mat booty 'put into property': Court told of millions 'laundered' back into Britain , The Guardian, 12 April 1988 (accessed via Nexis).
Mo O'Mahoney was another recurit to the money-laundering scheme, moving money on behalf of Relton to the United States. He claimed that at one point he travelled to New York using a false passport and on the same flight as Relton. He would also confess to have hidden two of Relton's account books from the police, and that while he was employed at Briefs (see above) much of his work there was collecting and laundering money.
As the police investigation got closer to the money-laundering network, Parry and Relton moved to more complex schemes to disguise the laundering. In April 1985 Relton and Parry established the Moyet Foundation, a Liechtenstein based trust using £3.17 million taken from the Zurich accounts, closing these; to obscure the money trail further, Credit Suisse in Zurich were employed as their agents to organise the transfer of money to the Jersey and Panama companies. Other companies were set up in the Isle of Man, Spain and the Cayman Islands,Adrian Shaw, Green fingers that itched to touch gold, Evening Standard, 17 August 1992 (accessed via Nexis). and it was claimed that 170 accounts were set up on the Isle of Man alone.
In June 1985, Parry is questioned by police over the Brink's MAT robbery and contacts Relton's managing clerk, Ted Wein, for advice.
===Mossack Fonesca connection===
In mid February 1985, Centre Services, a company based in Jersey and controlled by Parry, contacted the Panamanian company Mossack Fonesca to set up a shell company called Feberion Inc. According to the Panama Papers investigation, company founder Jürgen Mossack was one the company's three "nominee" directors, a term used in business for stand-ins who control a company on paper but exercise no real authority over its activities.' Two men from the Channel Island were also appointed to the board to add further legitimacy. Two bearer shares which controlled the company were then issued by the Feberion Inc, and given to Centre Services in Jersey. When the police raided Centre Service's offices in Jersey in 1986, they seized the bearer shares among other papers, giving them legitimate control of the company.
Someone affiliated with Centre Services then contact Jürgen Mossack, who in turn writes to his business partner Ramón Fonesca, stating of Feberion, that it was 'apparently involved in the management of money from the famous theft from Brink’s-Mat in London. The company itself has not been used illegally, but it could be that the company invested money through bank accounts and properties that was illegitimately sourced'.
Other paperwork apparently demonstrated that from 1987 the company was clearly controlled by Parry and Mossack Fonesca took active steps to hide this from the police. Centre Services is replaced by another Panama based shell company; and in 1987 more shares were issued in order to dilute the police share-holding and return control of it to Parry.
Mossack Fonesca's dealings with Feberion continued until 1995 - when Brink's-MAT solicitors finally secured control over it.Crime of the Century, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (Panama Papers), International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, undated, accessed 28 July 2016).Simon Bowers, How Mossack Fonseca helped hide millions from Britain’s biggest gold bullion robbery, The Guardian, 4 April 2016 (accessed 28 July 2016).Steven Cochran, How UK's Largest Gold Heist was Laundered, Gainsville News, 7 April 2016 (accessed 31 August 2016).
It is not as yet clear if Relton himself appears in the leaked Panama Papers.
===Relton's growing wealth===
Managing the deals for Parry took up so much of Relton's time that he effectively went into full time business with Parry.Michael Gillard & Laurie Flynn, Untouchables: Dirty cops, bent justice and racism in Scotland Yard, Bloomsbury Reader, March 2012. As a result he stepped back from his legal practice in 1984, leaving it in the hands of Ted Wein. He would later sell his interest in the firm of Lynn, Relton & co in 1986.
Relton's own wealth grew steadily in this period. In 1980, his annual income from his law practice and small property deals was £147,000; by 1985 it had almost quadrupled to £550,000. The profits from the deals went to a Swiss account named 'Asbestos Stifftung', so named as it was apparently 'fireproof'. He became known as 'The Champagne Man', presenting himself as a connoisseur of wine, food and clothes.
By 1986 he owned residences at Carlisle Mansions, Victoria, London and Chase Farm, Haslemere, Surrey, as well as property in Florida. The Chase Farm residence was purchased for £600,000, having been owned until 1985 by screenwriter Jeffrey Dell;7 bedroom detached house for sale, RightMove.co.uk (estate agent website), undated (accessed 30 July 2016). it was then used to hold informal meetings of Selective Estates.Stewart Tendler & Michael Horsnell, Brink's-Mat: the bullion trail; Lawyer turned launderer; The champagne man; Michael Relton; Spectrum, The Times, 8 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis). 
===Further police links===
In an unusual twist to the case, Relton knew Flying Squad officer Peter Steger, and attended his retirement party. There he we would shake hands with another officer, DC John Fordham, who on 19 January 1985 would be killed by Kenneth Noye when a surveillance operation went wrong. Steger would subsequently go on to form Bishop International, an investigation company which worked closely with insurers to track down the missing Brink's-MAT money,Nigel Rosser, Fool's Gold, The Evening Standard, 19 June 1995 (accessed via Nexis). and would be directly involved in the questioning of Relton following his arrest (see below).
==Downfall==
===Police investigation===
The Brink's-MAT robbery was subject to a large police operation. However, when in January 1985 DC John Fordham was killed by Kenneth Noye during a surveillance operation targeting the Brinks-MAT money-laundering operation, the original Flying Squad team was turned into a 45 member Task Force under DCS Brian Boyce, who worked closely with Commander Phil Corbett, who was head of the Metropolitan Police's intelligence unit, C11 (also known as CO11, SO11 and 'Criminal Intelligence') and who had been Fordham's boss. A focus on the money-laundering trail was lead by noted detective Tony Lundy, working under Corbett.
Initially the police focused their investigation on the gold itself, particularly Kenneth Noye. However, when McAvoy, seeking a reduction in his sentence offered to strike a deal in return for some of the stolen gold, he nominated Brian Perry to act as his negotiator. The police promptly put Perry under surveillance which lead to the money laundering scheme under Parry.
Relton's role seems to have been uncovered when a Det. Insp. David Sandlin, part of Boyce's Task Force, was tipped off that Micky McAvoy's girlfriend Kathleen Meacock had moved into new house advertised in Country Life magazine. Sandlin eventually tracked this down and followed the money trail back to Relton. The link with Relton aparently caused concern in Scotland Yard, as Relton was know to be well connected with influential friends, some of whom were in the police. (Note: no other trace of this detective has been found to date other than in one newspaper article, and this account may have been created to divert from other information sources, including phone taps - see also below for the different account of Relton's arrest.)
On 12 August 1986, a number of those in the 'gold conduit' were arrested. Also arrested were Jacqueline "Jackie" McAvoy and Kathleen "Kathy" Meacock (later McAvoy), both having acquired expensive properties with Brink's-MAT cash.
Boyce's Task Force also moved against Relton and Parry. Parry escaped at the last minute, a police officer hanging from his car at one point. When they moved to arrest the solicitor they found he had already gone, causing them to suspect he may have been tipped off. Both fled the UK at this point.
DI Peter Atkins (see also above), an officer on the Brink's MAT Task Force, was a friend of Relton's associate Michael Ross - Ross had been Atkins' best man at the his wedding. In August 1986, after the arrests of the other money-launderers, Michael Ross contacted Atkins to say that Relton was in Florida and was ready to make a deal. Atkins told the Task Force and as Tony Lundy was already heading to Florida following the money trail, he vainly waited for contact there. However, it was to be Atkins who met Relton, in Paris on 6 September. This meeting was not sanctioned by Boyce and the senior management of the Task Force.
At the subsequent trial, Atkins said that Michael Ross had arranged the flight, and it was only when he was on the plane that he learned he was going to meet Relton. In response to questions he said he considered Ross to have abused their friendship in doing this. However, he described the meal as a 'highly enjoyable social occasion' and admitted that Relton paid for it, though on the way back he gave Ross money for the flight. It also emerged that after the Paris meeting, Atkins met up with Relton on three occasions, including once in Briefs, each time the meeting was facilitated by Michael Ross, who was present but not in ear-shot. Atkins claimed in court that he had reported back to someone in the Brink's MAT Task Force, though it was not the leading officers: Corbett, Boyce or Lundy. Nor did he take notes of these meetings, secretly record them or make a witness statement, though he knew Relton was wanted by his unit. Challenged at trial, Atkins denied he was going there to give information, but rather receive it.
On 8 October, Lundy declared Relton was a priority target and needed to be brought in within the next fortnight. That evening, when the Task Force went to the pub, Lundy was approached by one of the team to say that another detective had just offered him £100K to leave Relton alone. Lundy took this whistle-blower to his boss, Corbett, but the officer refused to confirm what he'd told Lundy.
At the same time, Corbett learned from a phone-tap about the unauthorised meeting between Atkins and Relton in Paris, which infuriated him and Boyce. Boyce recommended that Atkins be removed from the Flying Squad / Brinks-MAT investigation for this 'flagrant breach of police protocols', but this was not acted on. After no disciplinary action was taken against Atkins and he is later promoted to Detective Chief Inspector, it was wondered if he had protection higher up.
===Arrest===
A week later, it was learned from a phone-tap that Relton would be coming from Málaga to London within 24 hours. This was apparently to wind-up the off-shore companies and arrange 'get-away cash' for him and Parry. One of Relton's final missions was the transfer £260,000 to a Jersey based company.
DS John Redgrave, a long standing member of the Brink's MAT investigation was then placed in charge of Relton's surveillance. He noticed that the solicitor seemed like someone who had been spooked and at the end of his tether, and drinking more and more heavily. Concluding that Relton was about to flee again, he obtained permission to arrest him. On 15 October 1986, Redgrave pulled Relton over in his car near Rochester Row, London and arrested him. According to Redgrave, 'when I introduced myself, I sensed an enormous relief on his face'.
There are some differences in reports over how Relton was discovered and subsequently arrested. One contemporary newspaper article stated that chance apparently played a part in locating Relton as the solicitor turned up at a bank to finalise a property deal when the otherwise unknown DI Sandlin happened to be there checking records.
On 17th October 1986, Relton was brought before Horseferry magistrates and charged with handling £1/4 million of proceeds from the robbery. Charged alongside him was property developer Stephen Donovan; both men were remanded in custody.UK News In Brief: Two held on bullion charge / Brink's-Mat gold raid at Heathrow, The Guardian, 18 October 1986 (accessed via Nexis).A week later, on 24 October, Donovan was bailed to his parents address at Elf Row, Stepney. News Summary: Gold case remand / Brinks-Mat bullion robbery, The Times, 25 October 1986 (accessed via Nexis).
Not long after Relton's arrest, his solicitor John Blackburn Gittings, who is also of note for his alleged links to the London criminal underworld, invited Brink's-MAT Task Force chief Brian Boyce to a private dinner at the Cartlon Club. Boyce attended with another officer; however, uneasy with the direction of conversation, left part way through, telling Gittings to stay out of his way.
===Confession and co-operation with police===
In the boot of the car was a treasure-trove of documents Relton appeared to have just cleared out of his office. Among them were the Selective Estate files and two envelopes containing extensive details of the money-laundering network. More incriminating documents were found at Relton's home.
Under pressure from Tony Lundy, Relton cracked and started to co-operate with the police. At this point Peter Steger was brought in by police as someone who was known to Relton; he was allowed to question the solicitor and do the work of unravelling the network of secret accounts. In Steger's account:
:: He had total recall. He sat there giving us a lot of information and drawing out diagrams of where the money had gone on pads in the custody suite. He provided codenames for the accounts and, even more importantly, written authority for us to serve letters on the banks concerned letting us see the accounts. I was able to fly to these places, get all the account details and circumvent normal police channels. What we were getting the next day the police would have taken 18 months to lay their hands on.
Details of bank accounts and other financial issues including letters of authorities were provided to both Lundy and to Shaw & Croft, the legal firm representing the insurers and through which Steger was working. This information was vital for getting behind the veil of confidentiality around off-shore accounts. Though Relton subsequently sought to withdraw his co-operation (see below), he had provided enough evidence for accounts and assets to be frozen.Wensley Clarkson, The Curse of Brink's-Mat – 25 years of murder & mayhem, 2012, Quercus paperback edition. As such, Relton's arrest and admissions were considered the break-through in catching the gold and money launderers.Lawrence Donegan, £27M Brink's-MAT haul 'nearly all recovered', The Guardian, 20 June 1995 (accessed via Nexis).
Following his decision to co-operate, Relton reappeared before magistrates a week later, on the 23rd October, when he was additionally charged with handling £2.7 million of the robbery's proceeds. He was granted bail, but on the condition he 'lived' at the police station.UK News in Brief: Police station bail condition / Michael Relton charged in connection with Brinks Mat gold robbery, The Guardian, 23 October 1986 (accessed via Nexis). Under the bail conditions, 'Mr Relton would not be allowed to leave the station unless accompanied by police officers and if it was thought necessary for police inquiries'.Solicitor 'bailed' in custody / Brinks-Mat gold bullion robbery, The Times, 23 October 1986 (accessed via Nexis).
He was placed in a 'carpeted suite' of rooms at the New Malden police station in south London, one of a series of such suites designed to house those who had turned informers. Though on bail and able to receive visitors, he effectively remained in police custody, being debriefed by detectives for up to ten hours a day.Michael McCarthy, (CORRECTED) Solicitor in 'luxury suite for informers' / Brinks-Mat gold bullion robbery case, The Times, 23 October 1986 + Correction, 25 October 1986 (accessed via Nexis).Remand in Brinks Mat case / Eight accused of handling stolen gold bullion from the Heathrow robbery, The Guardian, 21 January 1987 (accessed via Nexis). Three Flying Squad detectives, Michael Charman, Tony Curtis and John Bull were Relton's bodyguards while he was in protective custody. They took him to meet his wife, Terri, at a bistro in Clapham, as well as driving him to his house in Buckinghamshire for dinner parties and conjugal visits.
===Withdrawal of co-operation===
Initially, he did not take seriously an intelligence report that there was a threat on his life. However, Terri Relton hired a security company which found a microphone under the kitchen sink. Subsequently, enforcer "Mad" Frankie Fraser and Patrick Perry (son of Brian) visited her at her London flat on behalf of Brian Perry. Fraser was a friend of both Brian Perry and an associate of Gordon Parry's father, and in his autobiography admitted he had been asked by contacts to act as Perry's 'minder' during the Brink's-MAT trials.
Following this threat against Terri, Relton stopped co-operating with the police. At his request, he was taken out of police protection, which lead to a new court hearing where he entered a plea of not guilty and applied for bail. This application failed and he was remanded in custody to Wormwood Scrubs prison in January 1986. However, an attempt to withdraw his evidence failed.
===Pre-trial preparation===
On 20th January 1987, he was back in court with seven others, including Brian Perry and Stephen Donovan, charged with handling proceeds of the robbery. Reporting restrictions were lifted at the request of Relton's solicitors so he could deny publicly that he had tuned supergrass. Donovan would be charged with handling a further £880,000 on 6 February.New Charge in Brink's Mat robbery case, The Times, 7 February 1987 (accessed via Nexis). Representing Stephen Donovan was Relton's former clerk Paul Rexstrew.
The officer responsible for preparing all the paperwork for the prosecution, somewhere in the region of 20,000 pages, was John Redgrave. He wrote a report for senior Metropolitan Police officers arguing that following previous failed trials, suspected in part to jury nobbling, the trial should be held outside of London and the jury given protection. He also raised the issue of Relton's association with Michael and John Ross, and his connection to the Briefs wine bar which gave rise to the fear there was the possibility of sabotage of the case from within the police - or as Redgrave put it: 'manipulate police organisation and the mechanics of London's legal system'. The Metropolitan Police went so far as to order officers to stay away from Briefs over concern about how far its owners (the Ross brothers and Rewstrex) would go to protect Relton. Redgrave's report would be endorsed by both Brian Boyce and Phil Corbett; in the end, though the trial went ahead in London, the jury did get protection.
On 19 June, seven of the charged were sent to trial for handling stolen money. Additionally, Relton along with Perry, Jacqueline McAvoy and Michael John Osborn were accused of conspiring together with Michael McAvoy, while Relton and Perry were further charged with conspiracy to handle stolen gold.Gold case - 7 for trial, The Guardian, 19 June 1987 (accessed via Nexis). 
===Trial===
The trial started in April 1988 at the Old Bailey before Judge Richard Lowry and with Nicholas Purnell as the prosecuting barrister. Two defendants had been added, accountant Joseph Medayil and Gordon Parry, though the latter was absent, as he was still on the run from police. The nine defendants present pleaded not guilty. The judge stated that he had ordered police surveillance for the jury's protection.
Opening the case, Purnell outlined the money-laundering scheme and placed Relton at the heart of a huge operation. He described Relton as 'the Pay-master-General, or Chancellor of the Exchequer'.Paul Keel, Brink's-Mat booty 'put into property': Court told of millions 'laundered' back into Britain , The Guardian, 12 April 1988 (accessed via Nexis).Stewart Tendler, Dockland empire 'was created from Brink's Mat gold', The Times, 12 April 1988 (accessed via Nexis).Paul Keel, Brink's-Mat robbers sought deal 'to stall Yard search for gold', The Guardian, 13 April 1988 (accessed via Nexis).
Relton took the stand for nine days in May 1988. It was alleged in court that Relton had confessed to the police, he knew the millions he was handling had come from the Brink's MAT robbery. However, Relton denied the prosecution's claims, saying he had not known Gordon Parry was connected to the robbery, and stating he admired the man's business acumen and success. He also claimed that he believed the £2.8 million paid into Zurich banks came from legitimate property deals.Solicitor denies using raid cash, The Times, 18 May 1988 (accessed via Nexis). Apparently, Relton never thought to ask where the money was coming from, despite his own considerable interest in the profits; during the trial he said he assumed it had come from Parry's father who owned 26 betting shops; he also claimed that if he had known it had come from Brinks-MAT, he would not have gone 'within a thousand miles of it'. The prosecution noted that when Parry contacted Relton's clerk in June 1985, this should have alerted Relton to the fact he should ask questions about the source of his business partner's money.
Questioned by defence barrister Alan Rawley, Relton said: 'there is no way I would connect Mr Parry with the Brink's-Mat robbery. He was a man of considerable ability and substance (...) who came back from adversity and proved himself in business.'Gareth Parry, Missing man in Brink's-Mat bullion case is 'very much admired', The Guardian, 18 May 1988 (accessed via Nexis). Relton did admit that he had used a client's account to deposit cash, which had come from Parry, for property deals.
After three days of summing up, the jury retired on 2 July,Brink's Mat jury out today; Six men and two women accused of laundering proceeds of the robbery, The Times, 2 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis). and returned their verdict on 7 July.Michael Hornsell, Solicitor jailed in Brink's-Mat case; Michael Relton, The Times, 8 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis). Medayil, Donovan, the Elcombes and Osborn were all acquitted or had charges dropped, while Perry and Jacqueline McAvoy faced retrials. Kathleen McAvoy and Michael Relton were convicted. Judge Richard Lowry sentenced Relton to 12 years in prison on 11 July 1988, stating of the solicitor:James Morton, Gangland: The Lawyers, Random House, 2012.Stewart Tendler & Michael Horsnell, Brink's-Mat: the bullion trail; Spectrum, The Times, 8 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis).Paul Keel, Brink's-Mat 'Chancellor' gaoled, The Guardian, 8 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis).
:: Far from serving the community as a lawyer you aspired to live as a parasite. You are not a man who has been led into crime by others. You were grossly dishonest. You were only too keen to mix with persons you knew were linked to organised crime.
During the trial, DCS Brian Boyce claimed there were a number of corrupt solicitors assisting people questioned about the robbery. He named four individuals, including Ted Wein, the managing clerk in Lynn, Relton & Co.Paul Keel, Detective 'suspected corrupt solicitors would impede bullion inquiry', The Guardian, 8 July 1988 (accessed via Nexis).
It is of note that allegations of corruption within the Metropolitan Police, particularly around the Flying Squad and the Brink's-MAT investigation (Atkins, Ray Adams, etc.) were kept from public in case they impacted on the trials of Relton & co.
==Aftermath==
November 1989, Relton lost his appeal against his conviction and sentencing.Stewart Tendler, Police trace 20m Pounds Brink's-Mat gold, The Times, 27 November 1989 (accessed via Nexis). The month before, Jean Savage, Patrick Clarke and son Stephen Clarke, and Keran Massett were charged with conspiring with Parry, Perry and Noye to launder money from the Brink's MAT robbery.Four on bullion raid charges, Press Association, 13 October 1989 (accessed via Nexis). With others also arrested and charged, this led to a second trial of money laundering teamsDuncan Campbell, Docklands 'profit for gold robbers', The Guardian, 2 July 1991 (accessed via Nexis). and saw the conviction of Gordon Parry and Patrick Clark in August 1992.David Connett and Rachel Borrill, Brink's-Mat bullion launderers guilty, The Independent, 16 August 1992 (accessed via Nexis).
Following Relton's conviction, Brink's-MAT and insurance underwriters sought to recover the laundered proceeds. An interim order to pay £12 million, the total amount of Brink's-MAT related money he is said to have come into contact with, was granted against him. He was also forced to surrender his 20 acre Kent property, Gatehouse Farm, to insurers and to repay the £800,000 remaining in the HSBC Zurich account. Two cases included Brink's-MAT Ltd v Relton and Brink's-MAT Ltd v Selective Estates (Blackheath) Ltd (see below for details of this company), for which Relton used the solicitors Payne Hicks Beach to defend him; however, they in turn had to sue Relton for £10, 208 of unpaid bills.Law Update: In court: Who's suing whom, The Independent, 26 January 1990 (accessed via Nexis).
Nevertheless, following his release, it appeared he had managed to keep some of his wealth, living in a rented Mayfair flat and dining out regularly; he was believed to have business interests in South Africa and to be still living a 'champagne lifestyle'. However, following the assassination of Brian Perry in November 2001, Relton lowered his profile and was thought to have moved to France.Mike Sullivan, Fool's Gold, The Sun, 17 May 2003 (accessed via Nexis).
==Personal life==
Relton was married twice, firstly to Alison Finely in 1962 by whom he had two children. His second wife was Helena T. Luff, whom he married in February 1985;Undercover Research Group: Birth, Marriage & Death records, search conducted July 2016. known as Terri, she had previously been a barrister's clerk for Ronald Shulman - a flamboyant barrister who had fled abroad in 1970 when it was discovered he had forged the will of a wealthy friend. She was later a director of hospitality in Málaga for Bridge Street Worldwide, an international provider of serviced apartments.Terri Relton, Profile, LinkedIn.com, undated (accessed 28 July 2016).
==Selective Estates==
Selective Estates Ltd was registered in Jersey on 2 April 1984, originally under the name ParJon Investments Ltd and company number 28636. Its registered address was PO Box 301, Queens House, Don Road, St. Helier. It was dissolved on 24 November 1994.Companies Registry, Selective Estates Ltd, Jersey Financial Services Commission, undated (accessed 29 August 2016).
From 16 January 1992 to 22 October 1994, Michael Relton, Gordon Parry and Ivan Nathan were founding directors of Selective Retirement Homes Ltd (no. 01878011) of Chelco House, 39 Camberwell Church Street, London, SE5 8TR. Relton and Parry resigned on 22 October 1997, when Mary Martin took over from Relton as Company Secretary. Nathan remained in place until the company was dissolved in 1997-1998.Selective Retirement Homes Ltd, CompanyCheck.co.uk, undated (accessed 29 July 2016).
From 31 August 1992, Ivan Nathan was also a director of Selective Estates (Blackheath) Ltd (no. 01818271, incorporated on 22 May 1984), also of Chelco House. His fellow director and Company Secretary was David John Hubble (also given as David J. Hurrle), who was director from 31 October 1988 and resigned on 4 December 1995 - when he was replaced by Mary Martin. It was dissolved in 1997-1998, when again by this stage Nathan was the sole director.Selective Estates (Blackheath) Ltd, CompanyCheck.co.uk, undated (accessed 29 July 2016).Selective Estates (Blackheath) Ltd, CompaniesInLondon.co.uk, undated (accessed 29 July 2016).
From 2002 to 2008 Gordon Parry is also a director of yet another company also named Selective Estates Ltd, where fellow directors included disgraced solicitor Jeffrey Peter Lygoe and Patricia Crean.Undercover Research Group: search of Open Corporates database, conducted 29 July 2016. Jeffrey Lygoe had his licence to practice suspended in 1999, but later falsely practised as a solicitor trading as David Parry & Co. See In the Matter of Jeffery Peter Lygoe, solicitor, Solicitors Tribunal, case number 9246-2005, 6 April 2006 (accessed 29 July 2016).
==Notes==