Gang jailed for £1m UK ATM raids including Worcester

The thugs were caught on CCTV targeting ATMs during a 19-month rampage between March 2021 and October 2022. 

A court heard the organised crime gang escaped with £600,000 in cash stolen during 17 attacks at shops, train stations, post offices and petrol stations. 

However, the gang left with nothing after raiding an ATM in Worcester on December 17, 2021.

The group would use a stolen van and straps to rip any stand-alone cash machines from the ground before fleeing in stolen high-powered vehicle on false plates.

Alfie Boswell was part of a criminal gang, centred in the East Midlands, has been jailed for committing more than £1 million-worth of damage and theft against cash machines across the UK. An investigation, led by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), in collaboration with Police Scotland, revealed that, since March 2021, 17 attacks were committed by the group against ATMs across England, Wales and Scotland, with more than £600,000 in cash stolen and vehicle theft and building damage at a cost upwards of £1 million (Image: Police)

For ATMs situated in buildings, they would use power tools or vehicles to smash through doors, then used a drill and other tools to access the contents inside.

Again, the robbers would flee with the cash in a stolen car on false registration plates and only communicate using 'burner' phones. 

East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) and Police Scotland found the gang travelled the length and breadth of the country to carry out the raids.

Detectives said they were coordinated by a core group of three – Patrick Gilheaney, 34, John Smith, 32, and Tali Smith, 34. 

The trio then used partners, relatives and other associates in an ‘on-call’ capacity to ensure the criminal operation ran smoothly.

In November 2022, hundreds of officers from across seven forces executed several warrants leading to several arrests. 

Gilheaney’s DNA was found on a crowbar left in a vehicle used during a raid in Loughborough, Leics., on March 15, 2021.

Tali Smith’s DNA was discovered on the key to a stolen transit van, used in an attack in Attenborough, Notts., in September 2021.

Ten defendants have now been sentenced to a total of 29 years and eight months behind bars after admitting a range of offences at Leicester Crown Court. 

Gilheaney, of Loughborough, Leics., and John Smith, of Spalding, Lincs, were jailed for seven years and six months for conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and conspiracy to steal.

Tali Smith, of Bagworth, Leics., was caged for six years and eight months for the same offences.

Alfie Boswell, 32, also of Bagworth, was handed a five year terms for conspiracy to steal and assisting an offender.

William Boswell, 24, of Bagworth, was sentenced to three years imprisonment for conspiracy to steal.

Sarah Haynes, 35, of Bagworth, and Victoria Smith, 35, of Spalding, were jailed for 12 months, suspended for 24 months, for assisting an offender.

Rosie McAllister,28, of Bagworth, and Francis Gilheaney, 33, of Loughborough, were also given the same sentences for assisting an offender.

Gordon McPhee, 37, of Pumpherston, Edinburgh, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and conspiracy to steal after a trial in February. 

He was sentenced to six years behind bars.

Detectives will now pursue the gang under the Proceeds of Crime Act.