Raider’s girl asks police for help!

A MEMBER of a masked gang who caused an explosion as they tried to raid a cash machine was caught after his girlfriend flagged down police for directions.

Officers became concerned about the smell of cannabis from her car and detained all the occupants, including Ellis Boyd.

A DNA match then linked him to the abortive raid several weeks earlier. Police later recovered CCTV footage of Boyd and fellow Liverpudlian Ian Jones leaving Aberdeen by train following the explosion at a Spar store on the city’s Clifton Road on March 6.

Jones, 33, and Boyd, 26, admitted unlawfully and maliciously causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious damage to property at the shop.

The pair also pleaded guilty to attempting to force open the cash dispenser with intent to steal from it, when they appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Advocate depute David Taylor told the court the gang had been seen on CCTV at the scene in an Audi Q5, which had been stolen in Liverpool. An explosion was later heard at the ATM.

The Audi was found with false plates in Aberdeen, and DNA in the car was linked to Jones who was detained in Liverpool.

Weeks after the raid, in the early hours of March 31, a police officer on foot patrol in St Nicholas Street in Aberdeen was flagged down by Boyd’s partner in her car.

Mr Taylor said: ‘She was apparently lost and seeking directions. Officers became concerned about the apparent smell of cannabis emanating from the vehicle and detained all the occupants.’

A DNA hit on a database linked Boyd to a sample taken at the explosion scene.

The judge, Lady Scott, deferred sentence on the pair and both men were remanded.