Four men have been jailed for their part in a series of burglaries which targeted cash machines and safes across Greater Manchester.
Three of the men stole almost £170,000 from two cash machines during burglaries in Tyldesley and Farnworth.
Steven Lee Hargreaves aged 42 of Dalton Drive in Pendlebury was jailed for four years and two months after CCTV linked him to a burglary at a business premises in Elliot Street in Tyldesley in February 2018.
During the burglary more than £109,000 was stolen from a cash machine.
Telephone intelligence also linked two other men to the same crime. Joshua Luke Doyle,28,of Oaklands Road, Salford, was jailed for four years and six months. Jordan Taylor,24,of Windsor Road, Moston, was jailed for three years.
The men had deactivated an alarm and used an angle-grinder to break into the cash machine.
A month later, in March 2018, £58,660 was stolen from a cash machine during a burglary at a shop in Higher Market Street in Farnworth. Again the thieves used cutting equipment.
Telephone evidence linked Hargreaves and Doyle to the second crime. Hargreaves was arrested the following day at his girlfriend’s address, where a stolen vehicle was also found. Inside the vehicle were angle grinders, drills and crowbars.
Evidence also linked Doyle to a third burglary committed in the early hours of 13 July last year at a public house in Bury where the office safe was stolen. Later that day police found the safe in Middleton. Its concrete base had been smashed and the back of the safe had been removed.
Paul Frater,33,of Alnwick Road, Blackley, was arrested close by as he tried to escape by climbing over a garden fence. He had £500 in cash stuffed in his socks.
Martin Leo Chubsey,35, of Sandy Lane, Middleton, was also seen running away and arrested. In a nearby garden in Tonge Roughs, the home address of Reece Clegg,25,discovered angle-grinding discs, sledgehammers and the backing for a safe.
Speaking after sentencing at Manchester Crown Court in Minshull Street, Detective Sergeant Richard Castley from GMPs Serious Organised Crime Group, said: “These men thought they could simply steal tens of thousands of pounds and just walk away. Although they thought they had planned their burglaries well, in reality they left evidence behind and a trail of clues for police officers to follow.
“We work tirelessly to analyse telephone intelligence and CCTV in order to bring groups of dangerous individuals to justice and I welcome today’s sentences which will take these men off our streets for a long time.”
The prosecutions followed a joint investigation between police and the intelligence security service, Safercash.
Sarah Staff, Head of SaferCash, British Security Industry Association, said: “This comprehensive investigation run by GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group has dismantled a well organised gang. Cash is still an important payment method used widely across the UK. These crimes are impacting on our local high streets and the access of cash which is vital within communities and should be easily accessible. The industry strongly believes that these types of investigations will act as a deterrent to reduce the number of ATM attacks.
“Throughout this case SaferCash worked in partnership with the investigation team and Cardtronics UK and the outcome of this case highlights the benefits of collaboration”.
