An underwater iPad, police, murder mystery: A curious case of a sunken tablet solving a crime

iPad

An iPad recovered from the River Thames after five years underwater has helped police arrest three men in an attempted murder case–sounds like a movie plot right? But it isn't. The device, found by officers during a search for a weapon, provided key evidence. It helped link the suspects to the shooting of Paul Allen, a man involved in one of the world’s biggest armed robberies, according to a report by 9to5Mac.

Paul Allen was part of a gang that robbed a Bank of England cash depot in 2006. He and his gang stole around £53 million (about $68 million). They had planned to take even more—another £154 million—but their truck wasn’t big enough to carry it all.

Allen was caught and sentenced to 18 years in prison. However, he was released in 2016 after serving less than half his sentence.

In 2019, three years after his release, Allen was shot at his home. Six bullets were fired through his kitchen window, one hitting him in the throat and leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

For years, the case remained unsolved. Then, police arrested three men—Louis Ahearne, Stewart Ahearne, and Daniel Kelly—for an unrelated museum robbery. They had smashed glass cases and stolen Ming Dynasty antiques worth £2.8 million. Their downfall came when they tried to sell one of the stolen items at an auction, which alerted the authorities.

While investigating the museum robbery, police uncovered a link between the suspects and Allen’s shooting. A suspect mentioned their getaway car had briefly stopped near the River Thames after the attack. Police searched the area with metal detectors, expecting to find the gun. Instead, they found an old iPad, covered in mud.

Despite years underwater, forensic experts managed to recover data from the device. A pink Vodafone SIM card inside held crucial evidence—call records and GPS data that tied the three men to both the museum robbery and Allen’s attack. The data also revealed they had used a tracker on Allen’s car to follow him before the shooting.

Police believe the attack was linked to money the gang owed Allen. With the iPad evidence sealing their fate, all three men were found guilty.

A device lost in a river for years turned out to be the missing piece in a long-running mystery, proving that even the most unexpected discoveries can bring criminals to justice.