Lee Murray
Lee Brahim Lamrani-Murray is a Moroccan-English convicted bank robber and former mixed martial artist. During his MMA career from 1999 to 2004, he fought 12 times, including a victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 46. He organised the Securitas depot robbery in February 2006, where around £53 million in cash belonging to the Bank of England was stolen by Murray and his associates. It was the largest known cash robbery in the world during peacetime.
Following the robbery, Murray fled to Morocco, where he was arrested in June 2006. Although the United Kingdom had its extradition request denied, Murray was convicted in 2010 in a Moroccan court for his role in the robbery and sentenced to 10 years in prison; this was extended to 25 years after a failed appeal. As of 2025, Murray is incarcerated in Tiflet, Morocco. UFC president Dana White said in 2008 regarding Murray: "He's a scary son of a bitch, and I don't mean fighter-wise".
Early life
Murray was born on 12 November 1977 in St Nicholas' Hospital, Plumstead. His mother, Barbara Murray, hailed from Bermondsey, south London. She was a hairdresser and later a telephonist. On a holiday to Gran Canaria she met Lee's father, Brahim Lamrani, a kitchen hand from Sidi Ifni, Morocco. Lee was initially raised by his mother while Brahim continued to live and work in the Canary Islands. Brahim later moved to England and married Barbara in 1984. Lee had one sibling, a sister named Rkia born in 1985.The family lived at 11 Buttmarsh Close, Woolwich, and Murray attended Foxfield Primary School, where he met his future wife, Siobhan Rowlings, three years his junior. As a child, Murray engaged in fights with boys from neighbouring estates. He had a difficult relationship with his father, who was mocked on the streets for wearing a djellaba and was often drunk. Described as a "frightening, violent man", Brahim demanded respect and obedience from Lee. He was abusive and was cautioned once by police for mistreatment. Eventually, Lee began to fight back against his father. Their relationship grew so volatile that Brahim felt living together would result in a death so he moved out. Barbara was then left to raise Lee and Rkia largely on her own and moved into a council house in the Abbey Wood estate.
While attending Eaglesfield Boys School, Murray met Paul Allen, his eventual best friend. Murray was a sub-par student and failed to make the school's football team. Teachers found him unmanageable; he was expelled and enrolled at Woolwich Polytechnic School to complete the statutory years of school. By then, Murray was a member of a gang based on the Barnfield Estate, which engaged in theft and drug-dealing. He and his friends were allegedly in contact with Nigerian drug dealers who operated at Plumstead railway station; a turf war broke out that saw Murray and his friends win territory in the local drug trade.
With Allen as his right-hand man, Murray became notorious in southeast London. He employed a network of drug runners, including the Turkish-Cypriot Hussein Basar. One of Murray's friends from this time was a future mixed martial artist named Mark "The Beast" Epstein, who said that Murray "made a lot of money" by selling crack cocaine. Murray was adept at violence, typically to control territory and make sure customers pay, and said that "some people would probably say I was a bully, but a bully to me is someone that goes for easy targets and people who can't fight back. Me, I went for all targets." Murray became known for punching people almost at random in the street, as well as harassing a man who ran a local corner shop.
Murray received multiple custodial sentences during his youth, including a term at Feltham Young Offenders Institution for assault and thievery. Upon emerging from Feltham, Murray devoted energy to lifting weights and drinking weight-gain shakes to add bulk to his lanky, frame. Joining him was Allen, who by then was known as "The Enforcer". Murray and Allen began using anabolic steroids and spending the money they earned from selling drugs on luxury cars. The police stopped Murray regularly. As they suspected he was a drug dealer, they attempted to place an informer in his gang but could not gain enough evidence to prosecute Murray. He was contemptuous of the police, often intimidating them on the streets. According to author Howard Sounes, some officers at Plumstead Police Station perceived Murray to be "very dangerous".
Rowlings, Murray's girlfriend, gave birth to their first child, Lilly Jane, on 24 December 1998. Weeks later, Murray was caught up in a turf war with rival drug dealers that led to the arrest of Epstein and more than a dozen others, many of whom received prison sentences. Murray, however, got "clean away," with Epstein saying that "he was the only one that slipped through the net. I mean, lucky boy! But he's always been lucky... I went to prison for three years." Murray married Rowlings on 24 November 2000, listing himself on their wedding certificate as a "professional fighter".
Mixed martial arts career
Beginnings
Murray began mixed martial arts training in 1999, when he joined London Shootfighters. The gym's co-owner Alexis Demetriades recalled that Murray looked demonic, with pointy eyes and a pointy head. Murray competed in his first MMA bout on 5 December 1999 at an event called "Millennium Brawl", which was held at Hemel Hempstead Pavilion. He knocked out his opponent Rob Hudson in the first round. Fight promoter Andy Jardine stated: "He was so quick they called him 'Lightning' Lee Murray."Murray's successful debut led him to seriously pursue a career in MMA; alongside training at London Shootfighters in White City for wrestling, he joined Peacock's Gym in Canning Town to develop his boxing. Martin Bowers, who ran Peacock's with his brothers Tony and Paul, described Murray as "a very nice boy, conducted himself well." Bowers said that Murray reminded him of many other young men he had seen in his gym over the years who came from troubled backgrounds and were given structure by sport. While Murray was training at Peacock's Gym, the Bowers brothers were planning a series of robberies, the biggest being a scheme to raid a high-security warehouse at Gatwick Airport and steal £1 million in foreign currency. Scotland Yard found out about the planned heist and all three brothers were arrested; Murray was uninvolved in the plans.
Under the banner of "Ring of Truth" on 12 March 2000, Murray had his second professional fight. He defeated Mike Tomlinson via a kimura submission in the first round. Murray then travelled to the United States to train at the renowned Miletich Fighting Systems in Bettendorf, Iowa, which was run by former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Pat Miletich. Robbie Lawler, who sparred with Murray at Miletich Fighting Systems, said Murray had "world-class punching power". Murray's next two bouts took place on 17 June 2000 at Extreme Challenge 34, which was a four-man tournament in Wisconsin. His first opponent was Chris Albandia, who Murray thought was a kickboxer because he was wearing Muay Thai shorts. After Albandia surprised Murray by performing a single-leg takedown, Murray sprawled then applied an achilles lock, stating afterwards that "I think it must have snapped because there was a real loud crack". Murray won the fight by submission and advanced to the final round, where he faced Joe Doerksen, a Canadian submission specialist who held a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Doerksen submitted Murray in the first round with an armbar. Out of budget, Murray subsequently returned to England.
Tito Ortiz brawl, road rage incident
Back in England, Murray continued to fight on the regional scene, including a draw against Chris Bacon in 2001. The following year, while outside a nightclub after the UFC 38 event in London in July 2002, Murray became involved in a street fight with then-UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. Murray reportedly knocked Ortiz out with a five-punch combination then kicked him in the head when he was on the ground. This version of events was repeated in Matt Hughes' 2008 autobiography. Pat Miletich was on the scene and stated that he and Tony Fryklund subsequently intervened to stop Murray from stomping Ortiz's head on the ground. Ortiz denied he was knocked out, stating that he had instead slipped due to wearing dress shoes. Chuck Liddell, who also participated in the street fight, said Ortiz had been knocked down but was not knocked unconscious. The story of the street fight spread and made Murray well-known in MMA circles. Two months later, Murray knocked out Pride FC veteran Amir Rahnavardi with a left-hook four seconds into the first round.Murray defeated highly-regarded Brazilian fighter Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons in July 2003 via second-round knockout. In his post-fight interview, he called for the UFC to sign him. Murray made little money through MMA, as the sport was still in a nascent phase. To supplement his legitimate income, he worked as a bouncer and in 2003 he started Top One Security, a firm which hired out bouncers to nightclubs. The venture was unsuccessful and he left the company within a year. Using proceeds from his drug dealing, Murray bought a semi-detached house in Sidcup for £285,000 in August 2003, as well as a Range Rover Vogue for £50,000. While driving in the Range Rover through Bexleyheath on 25 December 2003, Murray became involved in a road rage incident. He engaged in a fight with the occupants of another car; he knocked a 17-year-old boy unconscious and beat his 38-year-old father into a coma. The 38-year-old was later airlifted to hospital with a collapsed lung and a fractured skull. Murray said he acted in self-defence, but was charged with dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm. Murray had previously been arrested in connection with the 2003 murder of Sabina Rizvi, who was shot alongside her boyfriend Mark Williams, a convicted drug dealer. Paul Asbury was convicted of Rizvi's murder but refused to name two suspected accomplices, one of whom the police believed to be Murray.