Gang locked up for £700k crime spree

High-powered cars, including Audis and BMWs, were stolen by the four men, from Walsall and Birmingham, to use during the raids and were driven at speeds of up to 150mph during police pursuits.

Co-op stores were targeted during the crime spree by the group, who wore masks and balaclavas and used axes and hammers to smash through doors.

Petrol-driven circular saws were used to breake into the cash machines, Birmingham Crown Court heard yesterday.

A total of £684,210 was stolen during the 30 attacks, and £83,000 was recovered.

Noel Reilly, aged 33, of Southmead Way, Birchills, and David Holmes, 31, of Perch Road, both Walsall, who admitted two charges of conspiring to commit commercial burglaries between September 2010 and November 2011 and burglary in October last year, were each handed seven-year prison sentences.

Simon Phillips, 33, of Hullbrook Road, Billesley, Birmingham, who admitted conspiring to commit commercial and house burglaries between September 2010 and October 2011, was jailed for five years.

Darren Buckley, 35, of Hazelville Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, who admitted the same charges, was caged for five years and seven months.

The men first struck at a Co-op in Maidstone, Kent, escaping with £19,250.

Co-op stores in the Park Hall area of Walsall, Solihull, and Northfield and Quinton in Birmingham, were targeted in the Midlands, although they fled empty-handed after triggering security devices.

Homes were targeted for car keys, laptops and tablet computers, with one Audi being taken from an address in Longford Road, Cannock, in July, 2011.

A break-in at Co-op stores in Knowle and Quinton in June last year sparked a nationwide hunt by police.

Covert work by police led to forensic experts lifting clues from the interior of an Audi RS4 which they followed back to a garage.

The four men were arrested during co-ordinated raids at their homes on September 28 last year.

They were released on police bail but Reilly and Holmes continued to offend and were later tracked down in Taunton, Somerset.

Police stormed a rented cottage last November and found the pair with £86,000 stolen from Bridport Co-op as well as a lap-top and Audi S4, linked to a Taunton village break-in.

Analysis of the laptop showed Holmes had used internet search terms like "cutting open ATM machines" and scoured the websites of ATM manufacturers and car magazines hoping to find addresses where high-performance cars were being sold. In mitigation for Holmes, Mr Nigel Stelling said he had shown remorse and had a positive attitude for the future.

Judge David Tomlinson said the offences had caused significant damage, economic and commercial loss to victims. Sentencing Holmes and Reilly, he told them: "Your offending was significant and prolific".

Addressing them all, he said: "The custody threshold has plainly been crossed by a very significant margin." He ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cutting equipment, and a proceeds of crime hearing is expected to take place next year.

After the hearing, Insp Warren Hines, who led the inquiry, said: "To aid their getaways they stole an enviable array of high-powered cars, including several Audi RS Models, BMW M3 and Astra VXR, and would regularly swap cloned number plates on the vehicles."

He said Reilly and Holmes had been caught on CCTV at the store entrance before their final job in Co-op Bridport trying to obscure their faces with their hands.