Organised crime gang jailed for brazen cash machine raids caught on camera

Five men have been jailed for a total of 31 years and nine months after carrying out cash machine raids at a hospital, train station, post office and shops across the West Midlands.

They took cash totalling a quarter of a million pounds, breaking into buildings to get hold of the machines, and leaving destruction in their wake.

During one raid in September last year at Trent Valley Post Office in Lichfield they removed bollards, broke down the door and attached a heavy-duty cargo strap to the ATM, wrenching it out using a van causing significant damage as shelves came tumbling down.

The following month, they targeted the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. They removed the ATM and can be seen on CCTV casually wheeling it away.

The incident took just 2 minutes and they netted £58,000.

Charlie Ward, David Bradley, Kenneth Bourne and Shane Stajsavlijevic and Craig Matthews weren't afraid to target locations when workers were on the premises.

Police say the crimes were sophisticated, with gang members visiting locations weeks in advance to plan their attacks - some of these visits were also captured on CCTV.

  • DCI Anastasia Miller from West Midlands Police described the raids as “brazen”:

They used stolen high-powered vehicles fitted with cloned registration plates, striking between 8pm and 2am - walking into public areas wearing balaclavas to disguise their identities.

But an ATM manufacturer says that new technology means only one in 10 attempted ATM raids is successful nowadays.

Techniques like dye mean the stolen bank notes can’t be used.

  • Terence Bourke, Head of Security and Risk at ATM provider Cardtronics:

The raids took place in the West Midlands, Staffordshire and Warwickshire between March 2018 and January 2019.

Today they were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court:

  • Craig Matthews, 42, was jailed for eight years and seven months.

  • Shane Stajsavlijevic, 36, was jailed for seven years and two months.

  • David Bradley, 28, was given five years.

  • Kenneth Bourne, 38, was jailed for six years.

  • Charlie Ward, 27, was handed five years.

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