Bungling ram-raiders run off empty-handed after stolen ATM from Scotmid clatters out the back of getaway car as they flee scene
BY CHARLIE GALL c.gall@dailyrecord.co.uk THIEVES in a stolen digger ram-raided a shop and stole a cash machine – only for it to fall out their getaway car as they made their escape.
The gang struck in the village of Torphins in Aberdeenshire at 1.30am yesterday.
They smashed their way into the front of a Scotmid Co-operative store and, using a chain fixed to the telescopic forklift truck, hauled the ATM out of the wall.
The forklift was then used to put the auto-teller into the back of a gold-coloured Chrysler Voyager.
The commotion woke up villagers. One used her phone to film the thieves in action while her partner called police.
When the gang spotted that they were being filmed, they drove off in haste – before properly securing the ATM.
The digger engine was still running.
Police tracked down the abandoned car less than a mile away, with the ATM on the road behind it. Last night, the gang of at least three men were being hunted by police.
It’s thought they scarpered across fields as police sealed off roads in and around the village.
A blue Ford Galaxy was also attracting the interest of police officers and forensics examiners.
Detective Inspector Fionnuala McPhail said: “There doesn’t appear to have been anything removed from the ATM.”
She added: “This is a very unusual event in this area. We have had a lot of help already from the local community.
“I would urge anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area to get in touch.
“Anyone with information can speak to any officer or call 101 using reference number 0184 of February 28.
“Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to remain anonymous.”
Police believe the gang must have staked out the shop, which is in a former church, in the days before the raid.
It’s thought the digger had been stolen from a nearby building site.
In September 2013, ATM raiders got away with £112,000 from a Scotmid store in nearby Bieldside on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
And two years ago, a gang were captured after pulling in for a McDonald’s breakfast in Arbroath after a dawn raid on a Co-op ATM seven miles away in Carnoustie.
That bust brought to an end a year-long crime spree which later saw the gang of Merseyside hoods jailed for almost 100 years in total.