'Mindless' ATM theft spree gang jailed

A gang of "mindless" thieves whose spate of ATM thefts caused more than £1m of damage have been jailed.

The gang's crime spree across the east and south east of England - in which they stole money and vehicles valued at more than £500,000 - spanned March to November 2018, police said.

In one ATM theft in Suffolk a digger used to smash a building nearly hit a person sleeping in the upstairs flat.

Five men have been jailed after police linked the gang to 52 offences.

The 17 ATM thefts, 23 burglaries and 12 taking of a motor vehicle offences spanned London, Hertfordshire, Cambridge, Essex, Kent, Buckinghamshire, Suffolk, and Surrey.

The Metropolitan Police, which investigated, said that before each ATM theft the gang stole a vehicle, often using it to attempt to rip out the machine from within a building, and then abandoning it.

For example, the group used a large excavator from a building site to smash through the front entrance of a supermarket in Saffron Walden, Essex on 27 June.

On 14 October 2018, a digger was used to wreck the front of a McColl's convenience store in Long Melford, Suffolk, to make off with a cash machine, narrowly missing the person in the flat above.

Police said the group also made use of sledgehammers to smash windows and angle grinders to cut through doors before trying to attach heavy duty straps to cash machines to pull them out using a vehicle.

Det Con John Richards, from the Met's Flying Squad, said: "This group of individuals showed a complete disregard for the owners and occupiers of the houses they stole from.

"Moreover, the danger they put the public and themselves in whilst committing these ram raids was mindless. It is only through sheer luck that nobody was injured."

On Thursday at Isleworth Crown Court, Jimmy Broomfield, 32, of Yeldham Road, Halstead, Essex, became the final member of the gang to be sentenced after he was found guilty of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to commit burglary.

He was jailed for five years.

The other members of the gang previously sentenced were:

• - Alfie Smith, 39, of Staines Road West, Ashford, Middlesex - 14 years and eight months' imprisonment for conspiracy to steal, conspiracy to commit burglary, driving while disqualified and damaging property.

• - Alfie Stanley, 41, of Beech Drive, Cambridgeshire - seven years and eight months' imprisonment for conspiracy to steal, conspiracy to commit burglary, and damaging property.

• - Levi Smith, 36, of Yeldham Road, Halstead - six years' imprisonment for conspiracy to steal, conspiracy to commit burglary and possession of a prohibited weapon.

• - Hizekiah Roberts, 42, of Well Lane, Canterbury, Kent - 15 months' imprisonment for burglary.