HOLE IN THE WALL RAID No11
Gang use forklift to tear ATM out of newsagent’s
THIEVES used a forklift to steal a cash machine from a rural newsagent shop in the latest of a series of ATM thefts sweeping Scotland.
The robbery happened just after 4am yesterday and the raiders are believed to have escaped with the ATM in a car after ripping it from the wall.
The shop was extensively damaged during the robbery and was yesterday being assessed by building damage control officers.
Debris from the damaged store front lay scattered across the pavement in front of the usave newsagent in Forth, Lanarkshire.
The digger used in the raid was left abandoned at the scene as officers sealed off the street.
A diversion was put in place while an investigation was carried out.
Police did not say how much money was stolen, but the average cash machine holds between £5,000 and £10,000. However, they can contain as much as £120,000.
A police spokesman said: ‘Around 4.10am we were called to a report of an ATM theft at a newsagent on Main Street, Forth.
‘A digger used in the robbery damaged the building and the area was taped off.’
United Wholesale Scotland, which operates the franchise usave, said: ‘Our team are supporting the owner at what must be a very difficult time.’
The heist in Forth is the latest in a string of ATM thefts.
A man has been arrested in connection with an incident in Gretna, Dumfriesshire, last month when a cash machine containing £30,000 was ripped from the front of a store using a forklift. Locals said they thought a bomb had gone off when the machine was rammed into the Co-op, which was extensively damaged.
In June 2017, an ATM was stolen from the Famous Blacksmith’s Shop in Gretna Green.
Last year a gang who had stolen more than £600,000 in a series of raids across the UK were jailed for a total of almost 100 years. Seven members of the Merseyside-based gang received sentences ranging from nine to 19 years for a string of raids which netted them £611,000.
They blew up ATMs with gas and dragged others out of buildings. In Scotland, raids took place in Carnoustie, Angus, Newtonhill in Kincardineshire, Kingswells in Aberdeenshire, and Perth.
There have been a further four ATMs raids north of the Border in recent years.