Brazen angle grinder gang jailed after £600,000 cash machine robbery

In something like a scene from an action film, the four culprits were part of a large conspiracy which saw ATM machine doors ripped open and dragged through shop floors while attached to moving vehicles in a bid to collect cash rewards.

Cheshire Police watched the pattern of crime transpire over the dates of March 11 to July 7, 2022, in a bust codenamed as Operation Hades.

Lee Leatherbarrow, 33, Crimea Price, 32, Arthur Gaskin, 35, and John Price, 27, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Monday, April 24, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and robbery.

Prosecuting, Henry Riding said the criminal gang targeted a ‘specific make and model of ATM machine’ which were stand-alone machines inside the shops during the large-scale operation.

Police at the scene on Longshaw Street in Dallam (Image: Newsquest)

One store in Warrington was targeted in the 19 burglaries, and the total amount of cash stolen came to more than £600,000, and including damages the entire operation amounted to a loss of up to £1million.

The court heard how the group stole high-speed vehicles including a Volkswagen Type-R, a BMW M4 and a BMW M440i – these were used on cloned plates for each member to reach the agreed ‘rendezvous point’.

They would leave the mobile phones used to plan the operations at home so that the police were unable to track them – or so they thought – and then would use stolen Ford transits to convoy their way to the desired target location.

As shown on CCTV footage, the offenders would use power tools including angle grinders to cut through the shutters before entering the premises.

They would then strap long cables to the inner doors of the ATM’s and the transit vehicles which they would then drive away, ripping the doors off the machines and sending the units flying through shop doors, creating destruction in their path.

Cash would then be cleared from cassettes inside the ATM, before the offenders made a swift getaway.

In one specific incident which took place in Dallam on April 15 last year, the gang targeted the Nisa store on Longshaw Street at 2.50am.

Mr Riding said: “Two female officers responded to emergency call to attend the premises.

“On arrival, a man ran from the store to the stolen van, got into the driver’s seat, turned the headlights onto full beam and drove the vehicle at high speed at the police vehicle, ramming it.”

Police chase ended with three of the offenders being arrested (Image: Supplied)

A stolen VW Golf was used as a getaway vehicle, being driven at speed at the police vehicle before swerving at the last moment and drove off.

“As it did so the passenger leant out of the vehicle and threw a brick at the police,” Mr Riding said.

Their escapades came to an eventful end with a high-speed car chase when officers located a getaway BMW after the final burglary at a Co-op store in the village of Moira, Leicestershire.

Members of the gang attempted to injure officers and stop the pursuit by throwing items such as a fire extinguishers and bricks out of the vehicles.

Gaskin and Crimea and John Price were caught and arrested, with Leatherbarrow’s arrest taking place shortly after at an address in St Helens.

When officers raided the BMW, they found four bottles of disinfectant, numerous bricks used to attack police and items stolen from the shop, alongside a sledgehammer and circular saw.

Defending Crimea Price, Simon Summerfield said: “He has a past he cannot escape from.”

The scene on Longshaw Street in Dallam (Image: Newsquest)

Quoting a letter that Price wrote to the Judge, he repeated his client’s views of his own actions which were ‘stupid, idiotic and embarrassing’. He added: “He was suffering financial hardship at the time.”

Defending Gaskin, Paul Becker said that the offender’s wife and children were in attendance at the hearing to show their support, and how Gaskin had ‘expressed his regret, remorse and shame of his actions’.

He said: “He had a serious gambling addiction. His offending was financially motivated.”

In defence of John Price, John Mail said: “He is married and has three young children.”

Defending Barrow, Robin Howat said that his client has a five-month-old child and has suffered with his mental health since the arrests took place.

In total Crimea Price committed 13 burglaries, Gaskin committed 13, John Price committed four and Leatherbarrow committed nine, all of which they initially denied association with, before eventually entering a guilty plea.

Judge David Aubrey said: “Each offence was highly organised. Premises would be targeted, and each was a carefully planned operation.

“Many of you expressed remorse. This court is not satisfied it is genuine remorse.”

The judge spoke of how crime was ‘penetrated far and wide’ and a ‘considerable amount of cash was stolen’.

“Each one was almost akin to a military operation,” Judge Aubrey added.

Crimea Price, of Southword Road in Haydock was handed an eight-year jail sentence, while John Price, of Newport Street in Burslem, was locked up for six years.

Arthur Gaskin, of no fixed address, received seven years and six months in prison, with Lee Leatherbarrow, of Lascelles Street in St Helens, being jailed for seven years and six months.