What Really Happened to John Palmer After The Gold? Secrets Revealed

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Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Gold season 1.

The hit BBC series “The Gold” returns for its concluding chapter, delving further into the narrative spun from the repercussions of the Brink’s-Mat heist. It also explores a variety of authentic personalities and imaginary characters who were part of the story.

In both season 1 and currently in season 2, a character who has become the main focus is John Palmer, portrayed by Tom Cullen.

In the first season of The Gold, Palmer took on a significant part, and by season 2, he was depicted as flourishing financially and politically, managing a timeshare enterprise in Tenerife. However, one might wonder, what transpired in Palmer’s actual life?

Here’s everything you need to know.

What happened to John Palmer in the series?

Approaching the final episode of The Gold’s first season, John took a bold step towards clearing his name by inviting media to his hotel resort in Tenerife for interviews, where he openly declared his innocence regarding the accusations against him.

In the story, we encountered him later, having been introduced earlier by Kenneth Noye. His role became crucial throughout the series of events that led to the heist. Specifically, he was the key figure responsible for melting down the gold stolen during the robbery and attempting to make it appear legitimate.

I’ve been part of a gold and jewelry venture known as Scadlynn Ltd, running it alongside partners Garth Victor Chappell and Terence Edward James Patch in the real world. Unfortunately, in 1983, our business was targeted by robbers, an incident that later led to Chappell and Patch’s arrest in 1985 for procuring credit on furniture using false identities. In a twist of events, I managed to elude capture and chose to escape to the island of Tenerife instead.

In the show, his proximity to getting caught increases when a newspaper article reveals his picture and name publicly, leading him to launch a counter-offensive through media outlets.

In the season finale of the drama, many characters, including Noye, were penalized for their roles in the robbery. However, Palmer seemed to escape mostly unharmed from the whole situation. Despite Brian Boyce accusing Palmer in the last episode, claiming he knew that Palmer was processing the gold and reselling it, Palmer maintained his innocence, insisting that his name couldn’t be connected to any wrongdoing.

He claimed that his name wasn’t listed on the documents Boyce marked as damning evidence, and asserted that there was no way to definitively prove his guilt. Later, we observed how he successfully persuaded the jury that he was unaware of the origin of the gold, and subsequently, he departed for Spain to handle the funds obtained from selling the gold.

However, although he avoided imprisonment during Season 1 of The Gold, his marriage to Marnie remained turbulent, as she clearly felt uneasy about his actions.

In Season 2, we’ll find Palmer managing his thriving timeshare company in Tenerife. Additionally, you’ll see him listed among the wealthy on The Sunday Times Rich List, estimated to be worth around £150,000,000, placing him alongside the queen.

Cullen describes the character in season 2 as someone who is deeply driven by a desire to transcend his humble origins. Born into extreme poverty, John Palmer dropped out of school at an early age without knowing how to read or write. However, he managed to improve himself within the criminal world that he was familiar with.

Was John Palmer a real person?

In my opinion, there’s no denying that Palmer was undeniably grounded in reality amidst the fictional characters that populated this series. Unlike his counterparts who seemed to be a blend of various individuals, Palmer was an authentic portrayal of a real-life figure.

In 1987, he was found not guilty in court because he confessed that he had melted down gold bars without knowing they were stolen, similar to what occurred in the series. However, Palmer faced a Mareva Injunction that froze his assets, leading him to pay £360,000 to Lloyd’s insurers due to a civil lawsuit following the robbery. Despite this, he persisted in declaring his innocence.

Even so, he became known as ‘Goldfinger’ for his connection to the infamous heist.

In the year 2001, Palmer faced one of the longest fraud trials in British law, resulting in a conviction and an eight-year prison sentence. It was reported that he swindled an astounding sum of £30 million from approximately 20,000 individuals. However, he only served more than half of his sentence. At the time of his conviction, it was estimated that Palmer’s wealth stood at a remarkable £300m.

2005 saw me declared bankrupt, with a staggering debt total of £3.9m. The following year, I was taken into custody once more due to additional fraud accusations, as allegations surfaced that I had persisted in illegal activities even after my incarceration in 2001. I spent two years behind bars before being granted bail.

In 2015, Palmer met his end following a shooting incident where he sustained multiple wounds, at the age of 64, within his secured property in Essex. Following his tragic demise, it was uncovered that he had been under covert police surveillance as part of an intelligence operation and was concurrently dealing with accusations in Spain for illegal firearm possession, fraud, and money laundering.

According to the police, Palmer’s shooting appears to be a professional assassination, yet no one has been apprehended for this crime and the case remains an open and unsolved mystery.

The second season of Gold premieres on BBC iPlayer at 6am on Sunday, June 8th. It will then be aired on BBC One at 9pm the same day.

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2025-06-05 13:34