Cash machine thieves toured country to steal

A generic picture of a cash machine.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

The court heard police had said 16 raids on the machines took place over about seven months

  • Published

Thieves who toured the country to break into cash machines to steal hundreds of thousands of pounds have been jailed.

Luke McCarthy, 40, and Harry Thomas, 29, both from Bristol, played leading roles as groups took power tools to machines 16 times, mostly on petrol station forecourts and in supermarkets at night.

Prosecutors said the group attempted thefts or stole from BP petrol stations in Twyford, Alton, Wokingham, Basingstoke, Farnham and Stow-on-the-Wold, Essos in Weymouth and Stoke and a Shell in Tewkesbury.

All the thefts took place between May 2024 and January 2025, with about £218,000 of cash stolen and £113,000 worth of damage caused.

McCarthy's father Neil, 63, also from Bristol, drove with thieves in his campervan before a raid in Llanharan, Wales, but it was foiled and they left with nothing.

Reading Crown Court heard James Clark, 43, from Bristol, was brought in as "muscle" on three of the thefts as he sought to repay drug debts.

A fifth man, Aled Richards-Carroll, 27, of Brynamman, Wales, served as a driver, taking his Ford Transit van from Bristol to a raid in Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire.

The five men admitted one count of conspiracy to steal.

McCarthy is said to have stolen about £200,000 in 13 raids and was responsible for about £100,000 of damage. He was jailed for four years.

Thomas was involved in 11 of the thefts and stole about £207,000. He was jailed for three years and eight months.

None of the cash taken across the country has been recovered.

Clark, who had already served nine months on remand, was given a 12-month community order.

Richards-Carroll was given a 30-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and must pay £1,000 in compensation. His Ford Transit will be seized.

Neil McCarthy, who is a carer for his elderly mother, was fined £700.

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