A man shot in the neck and chest in a suspected gangland hit has been revealed as the 'Enforcer' behind a £53million Securitas heist.
Paul Allen was gunned down through a conservatory window at a house rented out by comic Russell Kane.
The gunman fired six bullets at the 41-year-old before making his escape.
Allen, who was involved in the largest cash robbery in British history, is fighting for his life in hospital.
A source close to Allen is reported to have told The Sun : "Whoever did it is going to be very worried Paul is still alive."
A former Coldstream Guard known only as Luke, who was patrolling for a private security firm nearby, was called to help the victim, thought to be in his 40s.
Armed police arrived after the incident in Woodford, north east London, on Thursday night.
Luke, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, found Allen in a pool of blood as his wife held their baby and his 10-year-old son stood by.
He said: "There was a lady in the doorway screaming that her partner had been shot.
"I found him half on the stairs, half on the floor. There was another lady and I helped her in giving first aid by applying pressure to the wounds. I told the partner, who was holding a baby, to take the children upstairs and stay on the phone to the emergency services."
The gunman is believed to have fled the way he came in a getaway car, said to be a Mercedes.
Allen was right-hand man to Lee Murray, the ringleader of the Securitas robbery in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.
They and others spent months planning the raid which was the largest cash robbery in British history.
Afterwards Allen and Murray fled to Morocco but after four months they were seized by Moroccan authorities an locked up.
Murray is still serving 25 years there.
Allen was brought back to Britain and admitted conspiracy to rob and kidnap at Woolwich crown court.
He served nine years of an 18-year sentence. Police have located just £20million from the robbery.
Yet Allen was only asked to pay back £420 during a secret hearing
Luke was patrolling for My Local Bobby, a private company offering "bobbies on the beat".
His proud boss David McKelvey said: "Luke’s actions may have saved the victim’s life."
Metropolitan Police said: "No arrests have been made."
Land Registry documents show comedian Kane, 43, owns a £780,000 home in the road and it is believed he rents it out.
