News / Crime
ATM attackers jailed
Three members of an organised crime gang have been jailed today for nearly 30 years for their roles in a series of ATM attacks.
Matthew Parsons, 27, Andrew Cox, 27 and John Clouter, 33, (pictured left to right) were sentenced for their involvement in four attacks in the Bristol area in March and April 2015.
All three pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to cause explosions.
Parsons was jailed for 15 years, Cox for eight years and eight months and Clouter for six years.
The gang plotted to use a highly explosive gas to blow up ATMs at Ikea in Eastgate, HSBC in Redcliffe, Halifax in Emersons Green and Lloyds Bank in Shirehampton.
Just hours after the final attack Matthew Parsons was tracked travelling to Buckinghamshire where he bought an Audi S3 using cash believed to be from the Lloyds Bank ATM.
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Iddon said: “The attacks carried out by this highly organised crime gang were extremely dangerous and their actions put not only their own but other people’s lives at risk.
“The extent of the damage caused by the explosion at Lloyds Bank in Shirehampton showed exactly how devastating this kind of criminal act can be and it is only by chance that someone wasn’t seriously hurt.”
Read more: Shirehampton Post Office blown up
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