A twelve month British witness protection operation has come undone after an observant West Australian man identified a key witness to the UK's biggest ever cash heist.
After testifying against five members of a gang who stole £53 million ($116 million) in a brazen raid on a Securitas cash depot in the British county of Kent, Colin Dixon and his family were given new identities and flown to Australia.
Mr Dixon, who was the Securitas depot manager, and his family were kidnapped by the gang and forced at gunpoint to assist in the daring robbery.
The five who Mr Dixon identified were jailed but the Dixon family were given new identities in Australia to protect them from the remaining members of the gang, who are still at large.
Mr Dixon, his wife and their 11-year-old son Craig had spent a year crafting a new life in Australia but it all came tumbling down when one of the family's neighbours approached Mr Dixon in a supermarket and confronted him about his identity.
A friend of the Dixon family told MailOnline the neighbour had a newspaper clipping with a courtroom drawing of Mr Dixon.
"Colin got a shock when his Australian neighbour saw him in a supermarket, pulled out a press cutting and said, 'That's you, isn't it?'
"Colin insisted it wasn't him. But then the chap said, 'You can trust me. I won't tell anyone'.
"Colin still denied it was him in the drawing. But, as soon as he got home and told Lynn, they decided to get out of their rented bungalow.
"It was a pity because they had started a new life, assumed different identities and Craig had settled into a new school.
"But they had no choice, because they are still in danger."
Mr Dixon straight away alerted his minders that his cover had been blown and Australian and British police quickly whisked the family out of their home and flew them back to Britain.
Next month Mr Dixon will be expected to give evidence in a second Securitas trial next month, despite several of the thieves still being at large, including former builder Sean Lupton, thought to have £20m ($43.9m) of the £32m ($70.3m) still missing.
The foiled witness protection operation is thought to have cost the British taxpayers in excess of £250,000 ($500,000).
