Hole-in-wall gang gaoled

Four men dubbed the hole-in-the-wall gang have been gaoled for raids that netted about £250,000.

Between October 2008 and March this year, the gang targeted post osffices and stores with cashpoints built into their outside walls.

They rammed the walls with stolen vehicles, loaded the cashpoints on to pick-up trucks and drove away.

Ringleader Gary Self (44) of Coney Grey Spinney, Flintham, was gaoled for four years eight months.

His son, Dominic Alderton (22) also of Coney Grey Spinney, was gaoled for four years.

Reuben Reynolds (27) of Travellers Rest, Grantham, was given four years and Shanney Steele (36) of Jubilee Street, Newark, received three years five months.

All four pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to steal at an earlier hearing.

They were sentenced at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. The sentencing was switched from another court because of security concerns related to the four defendants.

The prosecutor, Mr Andy Easteal, said the gang was so efficient it could remove an ATM machine in minutes.

He said: “They were part of an organised crime gang and as a gang engaged in a series of high-value thefts and break-ins.”

He said they targeted premises in rural areas where they knew they were not going to encounter a large police presence.

In one instance they stole a forklift from Darlton and used it to steal an ATM machine from the Yorkshire Bank on London Road, Retford.

They went to an isolated grain store at East Markham and used oxy-acetylene cutting gear to empty it.

On another occasion, at Keyworth, they slashed the tyres of a police car parked at the village police station then rammed a forklift into the wall of the post office and removed an ATM.

At the Lowdham Co-op at 3.35am on February 27, they used a forklift to steal an ATM.

“Whole communities were left shell-shocked,” Mr Easteal said.

They also struck in Lincolnshire and Norfolk and were arrested after attempting to steal an ATM in Spilsby.

Mr Chris Milligan, for Self, said his client deserved credit for his early guilty plea.

Mr Harry Bowyer, for Alderton, said this offending represented a considerable leap in his criminality.

Mr Michael Cranmer-Brown, for Reynolds, said his client deserved credit for his plea, which had removed the need for a trial.

Mr Gregor Purcell, for Steele, said his client had been involved to a lesser extent.

A proceeds of crime case will be brought against the four to recoup the estimated £250,000 they stole.