00E0663 IBM 00E0663 00E0661 RAID enablement card for EJ0F

 A FORMER head of security enabled a burglar to access confidential documents from safes within the UAE London embassy.

Manister, 51, had worked as the embassy’s head of security since 2015, while Hurford, 49, was a close protection officer for the ambassador, Southwark Crown Court heard.

The security chief had installed new safes shortly before his resignation in August 2018, following a misconduct probe, and he arranged for Hurford to work the night security shift on September 14.

Hurford was the only person in the building, which was closed for Islamic New Year, when he raided two safes and entered the ambassador’s office, where nothing was taken.

He arrived carrying a hefty suit carrier and black trench coat before stealing about £60,000 in cash, receipts and financial documents belonging to the embassy, a security card and passports.

Some of the money was in envelopes marked “August VIP suite money”, while one envelope containing paperwork was marked “HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Sharqi”.

Manister’s car was captured on automatic numberplate recognition cameras close to the embassy, in Belgravia, central London, on the night of the burglary.

“The defendants’ inside knowledge of the embassy and its workings is a crucial contextual element of this case,” said prosecutor Tyrone Silcott.

Hurford, of Leeds, West Yorkshire, admitted two counts of theft and attempted theft, while Manister admitted two counts of aiding and abetting theft and one count of aiding and abetting attempted theft, at an earlier hearing.

Judge Martin Griffith sentenced Hurford to 21 months imprisonment and Manister to two years imprisonment, with both prison terms suspended for two years, on Friday, and told the men they must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

“Mr Manister, I consider you to be the more responsible in this,” said Judge Griffith.

“You made it possible for Mr Hurford to be in the rooms and had provided him with keys to the safes, enabling him to bypass the security codes that the day-to-day users expected to protect them.”

00e0663