Gang jailed after Waitrose ATM break-in

The four men - Dean Beech, Mark Kirk, Pedro Taylor and Jason Hadley, hacked into the ATM at Waitrose with a circular saw, crowbars and a ‘jaws of life’ hydraulic cutter – the type used by fire crews.

They spent eight minutes unsuccessfully trying to access its cash vault, causing around £20,000 worth of damage before speeding off in a stolen Audi RS7.

Residents at properties overlooking the Bertie Road store were awoken by the noise of masked men attacking the ATM at 3.20am on September 29 last year.

Sparks flew as they used an angle grinder to slice open the machine frontage, but despite concerted efforts were unable to breach its cash defences.

West Midlands Police officers later chased the Birmingham-based gang northbound on the M42 while a police helicopter tracked them overheard.

The chase led officers to a block of flats in Tamworth where three of the men were found hiding.

Kirk claimed to have been asleep with his girlfriend all night, while Hadley and Taylor were both standing in the kitchen dressed all in black.

Beech, of no fixed address, was arrested from dense bushes near the flats after being spotted by thermal imaging cameras on-board the helicopter.

Cutting equipment was found in the Audi’s boot along with the car’s original number plate.

Officers searching the flat also found a list of shops with cash points in the area, and footprints were matched to those in the angle grinder dust next to the shattered ATM.

Appearing at Birmingham Crown Court on April 7, the four admitted conspiracy to steal and aggravated vehicle taking.

Traffic officer Mitch Darby who was involved in the high speed chase, said: “The helicopter picked up the Audi near Hampton-in-Arden before we spotted it heading north on the M42.

“We were trying to keep pace but even at 140mph they were pulling away.

“Camera operators on-board gave us a continual commentary of the car’s movements and directed us to the flats where they tried hiding.

“Colleagues and police dogs quickly had a solid containment of the houses to make sure no-one could leave.

“It was a fantastic bit of teamwork, along with colleagues in Warwickshire Police who led the investigation, and a textbook arrest.”

Beech, 37, was jailed for 12 years and Kirk, 34 from Castle Vale, for 11 years and six months.

They were handed two year and 18-month prison sentences, respectively, for the cash point attack, plus another 10 years for plotting to rob a Birmingham jeweller in 2013.

Taylor, 30 and Hadley, 27, of no fixed address, were both given three-year prison sentences for their part in the theft attempt.