Cov men jailed for part in cashpoint robberies

THREE Coventry men who were part of a gang who ripped cash machines out of hospitals, railway stations and shops have been jailed.

The gang netted more than £250,000 from 10 cashpoint robberies across the Midlands.

Shocking CCTV footage released by police show the gang tying heavy duty straps on to the machines and using vehicles to drag them out.

In one robbery, a truck was driven at two security guards while in others terrified staff were forced to hide from the masked raiders.

The raiders have been jailed for a total of 31 years at Birmingham Crown Court.

Craig Matthews, 42, of

Benmore Avenue, Edgbaston, Birmingham was jailed for eight years and seven months.

David Bradley, 28, of Wappenbury Road, Wood End, Coventry, was given five years.

Kenneth Bourne, 38, of Nuneaton Road, Fillongley, was jailed for sixyears.

Shane Stajsavlijevic, 36, of Hermes Crescent, Henley Green, Coventry, was jailed for seven years and two months.

Charlie Ward, 27, of Pepys Corner, Tile Hill, Coventry, was handed five years.

They had all previously admitted conspiracy to burgle.

Matthews had also pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property, and was handed a two year concurrent sentence.

Peter McCartney, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said the gang carried out the attacks over 10 months between March 2018 and February this year.

He said: “They were high level commercial burglaries in which free standing ATM cash machines were stolen, from hospitals, a post office, a railway station and from shops.

“Significant planning went into these offences. They used high powered vehicles, some fitted with cloned registration plates.

“The offences were committed later in the evening or into the small hours.

“The defendants wore balaclavas or face masks. On occasions shops were attacked during open hours. Staff were terrified and ran from the area and hid themselves.”

He said that the gang used a unit at Trossachs Farm, near Coventry, as their base and that when Matthews’ home was later searched police found a balaclava and over £63,000 in cash.

They first struck on

March 15 last year at a Spar shop in Tamworth and cut through metal shutters before ripping out a cash machine.

The next target was the Midlands Arts Centre in Edgbaston taking an ATM containing £43,450 before they moved on to the Trent Valley post office in Tamworth on September 29 where they caused “significant” damage while dragging the ATM out.

They were pursued by the police following this raid but after abandoning a van which contained the machine they escaped in a car.

Mr McCartney said the defendants also stole an ATM containing over £58,000 from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston, putting it on a pallet truck before wheeling it along a corridor.

They also carried out a a number of recognisance trips before attempting to snatch an ATM from Rugby station but the strap they had attached to it snapped and they fled.

After the gang stole the ATM from Sir Robert Peel Hospital police later discovered that machine and another dumped in a canal.

A frightened shop assistant who had been working at a Cost Cutters in Coventry hid in a toilet when four of the raiders, one armed with a crow bar, came into the store.

However the gang’s attempt to take the machine there was foiled when the strap they used again snapped.

They were successful though on December 6 when they grabbed a cash machine from Warwick Hospital.

On January 27 they broke into Bookers cash and carry in Stirchley after using a blow torch on some metal barriers.

Two security guards were alerted to the break in but then had to move quickly to avoid being hit by a flat bed lorry being driven at them.

The manager, who had also arrived at the scene, also had to move his car out of the way to avoid being struck and when one of the guards tried to follow the gang he abandoned the chase after fearing he was going to be rammed.

Mr McCartney said the final raid was on a Spar shop in Chelmsley Wood where a shop assistant, the manager and a customer fled before an ATM, containing over £38,000 was dragged through a window.

The raid which saw the Transit van abandoned sparked the beginning of the gang’s downfall.

Forensic tests on that, and fingerprints left on a trolley they’d dumped at one crime scene, helped police identify suspects.

Ringleader Craig Matthews, who has 19 previous convictions spanning 49 offences, left his DNA on a piece of tape used to cover cameras in Lichfield.

He was also forensically linked to a registration plate on one of the vans.

The gang was arrested at the beginning of this year and went on to admit conspiracy to commit commercial burglary.

West Midlands Police’s DCI Annie Miller, who oversaw the operation, said: “This was sophisticated organised crime which showed a huge amount of planning.

“While no one was hurt during the spree, the gang left a trail of destruction which left victims facing huge bills.

“Thanks to great police work, we were able to build up a detailed picture of the gang, their vehicles, reconnaissance and movements.

“We’re continuing to work with the cash machine industry to help increase security to reduce the risk of them being targeted by criminals in this way in the future.”