Spar ATM Raiders Jailed

Three men who escaped with nearly £100,000 after stealing the ATM from the Spar Shop in Market Harborough have been jailed for a total of almost 30 years.

They used a stolen telehandler to rip the machine out of the wall at the side of the Coventry Road shop in the early hours of October 6^th 2017.

The raid was one of six committed by the gang during that year at shops across the East Midlands, which netted them over £250,000

The men, all from Leicestershire, pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to conspiracies to burgle commercial premises to steal cash machines and to steal farm vehicles and equipment.

Swaley Price, 22, of Bonehams Lane, Gilmorton, was sentenced to 5 years and eight months, Heathan Hall, 28, of Copt Oak Road, Markfield, was sentenced to 11 years, and Wayne Smith, 36, of Manor Road, Barlestone, was sentenced to 11 years and eight months.

Hazel Score, an Investigator with East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: “Hall, Price and Smith didn’t think about the damage carrying out these attacks would cause to the buildings where the ATMs were housed and often caused thousands and thousands of pounds worth of damage, on top of getting away with large amounts of cash from the machines.

“While this case has taken a long time to come to court for sentencing, I hope the sentences today show that being involved in criminality is not worth it and that we will work to make sure those responsible are caught and brought to justice.”