Ram raiders’ rampage
‘Italian Job’ gang hit mall amid fears of a new wave of 1980s smash-and-grabs
RAM-RAIDERS targeted a shopping centre in scenes likened to The Italian Job amid fears of a new wave of smash-and-grabs. Dramatic CCTV footage shows thieves battering through glass doors in a hatchback before stealing phones and other gadgets.
The raid in Newcastle-upon-Tyne is one of a string of recent similar crimes. The trend will heighten fears that there could be a new epidemic of ram-raids across Britain.
The country was gripped by a wave of smash-and-grabs in the 1980s and early 1990s, with cars or vans commonly used to batter their way into cash machines or jewellery stores. Northumbria Police yesterday released footage of the latest incident, saying said it ‘wouldn’t look out of place in The Italian Job’.
rather than using red, white and blue Minis like Michael Caine’s mob in the 1969 caper, the criminals used a small black car as a battering ram. Footage shows them using the vehicle to smash through doors at the Forum Shopping Centre in Wallsend at 4am, before driving through the mall and parking outside an O2 shop.
Two figures exit the black hatchback and head for the store, with one hooded thief swiping stock from the shop into his bag before the duo flee in their vehicle. They are yet to be caught following the incident on January 29.
In December, a report revealed surging levels of similar crimes. Attempts to steal cash have almost doubled from 400 in 2014 to 723 last year according to a report by ATM operator Cardtronics. It suggested nearly half of all attacks could be considered dangerous, with gas explosions among the techniques used to blast out ATMs.
There has been a wave of ramraids across the UK in recent weeks. Last Saturday, CCTV caught thieves using a stolen
‘It was the crime of choice’
Mitsubishi Shogun to batter down the front of a convenience store in the village of Bells Yew Green in east Sussex.
They used a vehicle to bash into the shop front before ripping out the cash box from an ATM and towing it away.
On Wednesday, three masked robbers attempted to ram-raid a One Stop store in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, using a white Ford Transit van.
When that failed, they rushed in to the store with crowbars, took what they could and smashed up the premises before getting away in a BMW.
Last week, a stolen JCB was used to ram-raid a business in the village of Pinxton, Derbyshire. The brazen thieves didn’t manage to get away with anything, but caused a huge amount of damage.
The term ram-raiding was coined in the 1980s when it became the ‘crime of choice’, forcing many shops to put up shutters or erect bollards.
It was a particular problem in north- east england. Former Detective Superintendent Steve Wade, from Northumbria Police, recalled: ‘In the mid 80s and early 90s the crime of choice was ram-raiding.
‘They used to steal high-powered performance cars like Cosworths and Golf GTIs. and just ram the shutters of shops and clear as much stuff as they could.’ raids finally subsided after a police crackdown.