Crime gang who targeted Warrington are jailed

AN organised crime gang from Merseyside who stole more than £50,000 during ATM attacks in Warrington, Wakefield and Telford have been jailed for a total of 17 years and nine months.
Mark Edwards, 47, Sean Devereux, 30, Peter O’Neill, 41, and Liam Doherty, 39, all appeared at Liverpool Crown Court.
Edwards, of Huyton, was jailed for 5 years; Devereux, of Northwood and O’Neill, of Liverpool, were both sentenced to 4 years and six months in prison and Doherty, of ,Liverpool was sentenced to 3 years and nine months . They had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal.
The case against them began in the early hours of Thursday October 3 last year following a burglary at Nisa Local on Glover Road, Locking Stumps, Warrington.
During the incident thieves broke into the store via the roof. Once inside they used an angle grinder to force open the ATM machine and stolea almost £50,000.
Following the attack an investigation was launched by detectives at Warrington led by Detective Constable Ian Morris.
Over the following weeks the team spoke to various witnesses, examined hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and conducted forensic enquiries.
As a result the team gathered evidence linking Devereux, Doherty, Edwards and O’Neill to the incident.
In addition they also found evidence linking the men to two other ATM attacks in Wakefield and Telford where they stole more than £19,000.
After gathering all of the evidence against the men, officers from Cheshire conducted raids at their Merseyside homes and arrested the men on Wednesday December 11..
During the warrants officers conducted detailed searches of their addresses and recovered a number of items, including angle grinders, mobile phones, high value clothing, watches and more than £14,000 cash.
Detective Constable Morris said: “This criminal enterprise went to great lengths to plan and co-ordinate attacks on cash machines with the intent of gaining significant amounts of cash.
“The men conducted a number of recces prior to conducting their attacks and travelled great distances in a failed attempt to evade justice.
“The businesses they targeted were recognised as providing important services to our local communities and the devastation of these incidents should not be underestimated.
“Not only did they cause thousands of pounds worth of damage, but they also had a profound impact on other businesses and residents within the local area.”