Holiday parks among targets of ATM gang

A MERSEYSIDE gang who trawled the country stealing ATMs and the cash inside them – including one from St Minver Holiday Park – were jailed for a total of 20 years on Monday.

David Owens, 35; Shaun Ennis, 41, and Kevin Caveney, 26, disabled alarm systems at colleges, service stations, amusement parks and caravan sites before attacking the ATMs with heavy duty equipment.

Owens was jailed for seven years, Ennis received six and a half years and Caveney was handed five years and nine months. Robin Vaughan, 39, was sentenced to 18 months for assisting offenders after pleading guilty to the offence.

Owens, Ennis and Caveney scoured the motorway network looking for targets across England between January and July of last year.

They were caught after an extensive investigation by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (Titan), which includes officers and staff from the six North West police forces and tackles serious organised crime across county borders.

Officers launched a surveillance operation following five burglaries in West Mercia, Derbyshire, Cleveland, North Yorkshire and Cornwall in early 2011.

On May 21, St Minver Holiday Park, near Wadebridge, was burgled by offenders who used hand tools to remove the entire ATM from floor brackets and left in a Vauxhall Insignia.

A police patrol pursued the Insignia and found it abandoned with the ATM and cash still inside the car, which had been hired from a rental company in Bootle, Merseyside, the day before by Ennis.

CCTV from Asda, Penryn, showed him buying a spanner set late on May 20.

On June 27, police attended a burglary at the Hard Brock Cafe at Brockenhurst College, Hampshire, in which an ATM had been tipped on its side.

A crowbar bought at a B&Q in Southampton by Owens and Caveney was found at the scene.

Officers chased two men seen running across the college grounds and, in the car park of the nearby Rose and Crown pub, found a black Audi A3 with Ennis hiding on the back seat.

Ennis was arrested but refused to co-operate and the investigation continued.

On July 4, Owens and Caveney drove to Blackpool to buy a crowbar and a hand saw from a B&Q store. Two days later a burglary took place at Preston College in Fulwood.

Two weeks later, a caravan park in Helston had its bar area burgled, the free-standing ATM forced open with a crowbar and a large quantity of cash stolen.

Detectives scoured CCTV cameras stationed on the M5 and saw that a Renault Megane hired by Caveney had visited Cornwall on the evening of July 19 before being driven back past the camera along the M5 northbound.

On July 20, 2011, police officers from Titan and Merseyside Police executed search warrants at the homes of Owens, Caveney and Ennis, and all three were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary and taken to Preston police station for interview.

In total, detectives believe the four stole a substantial amount of cash from ATMs during eight burglaries between January and the date they were arrested.

Detective Inspector Michael Fraser, from Titan, said: "Today's convictions reflect the persistence of our officers to see that justice is served on offenders who travel the country carrying out crimes."