Gang used Bloxwich business premises to plan 'jaws of life' cashpoint raids and store vehicles, court hears
A jury has been shown dramatic footage of a Bloxwich-based group of alleged cashpoint thieves breaking into banks and building societies.
Seven men and one woman, from the Bloxwich, Wolverhampton, Featherstone and Bromsgrove areas are on trial on four counts relating to the offences, which took place between January 1 and October 15 of 2024.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard the raids, using sophisticated cutting equipment, were carried out in areas such as Leighton Buzzard, Market Drayton in Shropshire, Crewkerne in Somerset and a number of them in Cumbria.
John Lloyd-Richards, opening for the prosecution, said that in each case the vehicles used - normally high-powered stolen sports cars on cloned plates - were returned to company Bloxwich Respray's site on an industrial unit in Fryers Close.
He showed the jury CCTV footage from the first of the raids, at Santander in Leighton Buzzard, on February 24 of 2024.
It shows people breaking into the lobby of the bank using angle grinders and then drilling into the cash machine, with sparks coming off it.
