Man arrested for Enigma theft

A man is being questioned by police in connection with the theft of the World War II Enigma code machine stolen from Bletchley Park.

A man is being questioned by police in connection with the theft of the World War II Enigma code machine stolen from Bletchley Park.

National Crime Squad officers yesterday arrested the 57-year-old, who is from the Derby area, more than seven months after the Nazi cipher machine disappeared.

A £25,000 ransom had been demanded for the wartime device amid threats it would be destroyed, but the cash was never paid despite protracted negotiations.

The G312 machine - missing three vital rotors for enciphering - was posted to BBC Newsnight journalist Jeremy Paxman last month - much to his astonishment.

The Enigma, which is valued at more than £100,000, was stolen during an open day on April 1 from the former codebreaking centre in Bletchley, near Milton Keynes.

The machine, which resembles an old-fashioned typewriter, had been loaned to Bletchley Park Trust by GCHQ, Britain's codebreaking organisation.

It disappeared shortly before the trust's display of three Enigma machines was to be fitted with infrared alarms.