It’s a pretty serious incident when a tablet that’s been underwater for years is the one that gave the authorities enough evidence!

The police investigated for six years, but could not close the case, getting further and further away from the solution. But the BBC reported that an iPad found at the bottom of the Thames has solved the case. Apple’s device had been underwater for five years, leading to the arrest of three men involved in various crimes, including attempted murder.

In 2006, Paul Allen was convicted of participating in one of the world’s largest armed robberies. Along with seven other men, he was involved in the theft of approximately $68 million from a secure warehouse used by the Bank of England to store older currency before it was destroyed and replaced with new notes. Allen and the seven criminals could have made off with much more, but they did not have a bigger truck to make off with more loot. Authorities caught Allen and sentenced him to 18 years in prison, less than half of which he served before being released in 2016.

According to 9to5Mac, three years after his release, Allen’s life was in danger, but he survived a shooting at his home, though his injuries left him paralyzed from the chest down. In an unrelated robbery, three criminals were arrested for a string of crimes. One was a museum robbery. They made a mistake when they tried to sell their prized haul (three 14th century Ming Dynasty artifacts; a pomegranate vase, a Douca-style wine goblet and a porcelain bowl) at public auction, which had a combined insured value of £2.8 million.

The auction house realized that these antiques had been stolen and alerted the authorities, who took action. DNA evidence linked these criminals to the Allen shootings, and the testimony of one of them revealed the location of the getaway car, which stopped briefly near the Thames. Police searched the area and found an iPad. Forensics found a SIM tray containing a Vodafone SIM card. Tracing the date of the call provided evidence against three men, Louis Ahearne, Stewart Ahearne and Daniel Kelly. The SIM card was also linked to a GPS tracker. This was attached to Allen’s car by the criminals in order to track his whereabouts. A month earlier, the same trio had been involved in a museum robbery…

If they hadn’t found the iPad, authorities wouldn’t have been able to solve the case…

Source: WCCFTech