Crime gang with links to Wigan area went on £500k ATM cash machine grab

One of the stolen vehicles they used was found to be stored in a garage in Lowton, which the group thought was a safe location.

The four-strong gang - Lee Leatherbarrow, Crimea Price, Arthur Gaskin, and John Price - appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced on Monday (April 24) after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.

The court heard how, between March 11 and July 7 last year, there were 19 incidents where supermarkets containing standalone ATMs - including one in Atherton - had been targeted sometime overnight.

It is estimated more than £500,000 in cash was stolen from machines during the spate of attacks.

Cheshire Police's serious and organised crime unit launched an investigation in April 2022 following an ATM attack at a store on Longshaw Street, Warrington, during which attending police officers were "rammed" by the group as they fled the scene.

During their enquiries into the gang, named Operation Hades, officers identified links to offences spanning the width of the north of England down to the Midlands and crossing the border into North Wales.

On each occasion the gang would conduct a reconnaissance of the ATM machines, with one of the group using one of the machines in the weeks prior to the offence. Once an exact location and day was identified, this would kickstart a specific chain of events.

On the chosen day, the group would use mobile phones to communicate and co-ordinate a meeting place before they left these devices at home or at an agreed meeting point. This meant, or so they thought, officers couldn’t track their location through their mobile devices.

They then would use stolen vehicles, namely two BMWs and a Volkswagen Golf Type R to get to their rendezvous points – one of these vehicles was found to be stored in a garage in Lowton, Wigan.

In another bid to try and cover their tracks, they also used multiple cloned number plates relating to similar car makes and models.

They would then steal Ford Transit vans and follow in convoy with one of the other vehicles to travel direct to the store that was to be targeted.

When at the location, the OCG would use power tools such as an angle grinder to gain entry to the stores, the members would then target the ATMs by dragging the machines out which caused huge damage, before loading up the stolen vehicles with cassettes containing cash.

Their downfall was when officers from Cheshire Police began a pursuit with the getaway BMW which reached speeds of up to 90mph in a 30mph zone, after the final burglary at a Co-operative store in the village of Moira, Leicestershire.

Members of the gang attempted to injure officers and stop the pursuit by throwing items such as a fire extinguisher and bricks out of the vehicles.

Once reaching an area of safety, officers performed a tactical stop on the vehicle resulting in the arrest of both the Prices and Gaskin.

Inside the BMW, seven sets of number plates, four bottles of disinfectant, numerous bricks used to attack police and items stolen from the shop were discovered alongside a sledgehammer and circular saw.

Further enquiries led to a warrant being executed in St Helens with Leatherbarrow arrested – it wasn’t long after that all were then subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit burglary.

At the sentencing, Lee Leatherbarrow, 33, of Lascelles Street, St Helens, received seven years and six months imprisonment

Crimea Price, 32, of Southworth Road, Newton-Le-Willows - eight years imprisonment

Arthur Gaskin, 35, of no fixed address - seven years and six months imprisonment

John Price, 27, of Newport Street, Burslem - six years imprisonment

Detective Inspector Nick Henderson, from Cheshire Police's serious and organised crime unit said afterwards: “This case shows that no matter how hard you think you have worked to cover your tracks, our officers will always be one step ahead of you.

“This gang left a trail of destruction for their own selfish gain – they may have stolen in excess of £500,000 in cash but this does not account for the damage caused to the shops, ATM machines and around 20 vehicles that were stolen in order to commit the offences – in total this investigation identified a loss of £1 million.

“This was by no means a victimless crime, this gang ruined businesses and caused huge disruption to local communities and residents, but thanks to our investigation we were able to put together an extensive catalogue of evidence which left the OCG no choice but to plead guilty to the offences put to them – even if it took some time for them to agree.

“They will now be behind bars for a combined total of 29 years and I hope this acts as a lesson to those who think they can come into Cheshire to commit crime – we will find you and bring you to justice.”