The first criminal trial without a jury to take place in England and Wales in more than 400 years begins on Tuesday after lawyers' legal challenges were exhausted.

John Twomey, 62, and three other defendants face trial over a bungled robbery at Heathrow airport in 2004.

Robbers allegedly tried to steal more than £10m from a warehouse but had misread a flight document and only £1.75m was there at the time, most of which has not been recovered.

Twomey and his associates face the historic trial in the absence of a jury after the court of appeal examined secret evidence and ruled that "the danger of jury tampering and the subversion of the process of trial by jury is very significant". It is the first trial of its kind under provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

In the last 400 years, trials without juries have taken place only in Northern Ireland, where the Diplock courts were set up to provide justice in the intimidating atmosphere of the Troubles.

The case is being heard at the high court in London and is expected to last three months. The judge, Mr Justice Treacy, will act as judge and jury during the case. Unlike a jury, he will see all the witness statements in the case.

Lawyers for Twomey say the evidence of alleged jury tampering has never been presented to them; instead it was made in court by senior police officers under public interest immunity.

John Aspinall QC, for Twomey, will apply tomorrow for the case to be thrown out as an abuse of process, but legal sources are not confident that the move will be successful. Aspinall has been refused leave to go to the supreme court.

Twomey has faced trial on charges in connection with the robbery three times already, at a cost of more than £20m. It was only in the last trial that the judge made allegations of jury tampering.

During the first trial Twomey suffered a heart attack in Belmarsh prison and was severed from the indictment. His six co-defendants were acquitted. At the second trial the jury was reduced to nine and was unable to reach a decision.

At his third trial the judge halted the hearing nearly halfway through after receiving information from the prosecution, which the judge said pointed to a "serious attempt at jury tampering".

The prosecution applied afterwards for a trial without a jury. But in the high court, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith decided a series of jury protection measures could be put in place to run a fourth trial. The court of appeal overruled his decision last year.

Lord Judge, the lord chief justice, said in his ruling: "The case concerns very serious criminal activity, including possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of a firearm with intent to commit robbery and conspiracy to rob."

He said during a "carefully planned and professionally executed armed robbery" a firearm was aimed at a supervisor in the warehouse and discharged.

Only one man has ever been jailed for the robbery: an inside man who turned "supergrass" and pleaded guilty.

Twomey, who faces trial with Peter Blake, Barry Hibberd and Glen Cameron, has told the Guardian he feels the police have borne a grudge against him after he gave evidence against officers in 1982 in an anti-corruption inquiry.