Revealed: Oswestry cashpoint gang who locked police inside station fled with £73,000
Thieves who padlocked the gates to a Shropshire police station before raiding a town centre cash machine stole more than £73,000, police revealed today.
The WH Smith cashpoint in Cross Street, Oswestry, was targeted in the early hours of April 26.
Police Inspector Tracey Ryan today said investigations have concluded and confirmed the gang made off with £73,770.
The revelation comes following the latest raid on a cash machine in Shropshire.
Detectives believe the gang involved may be responsible for a series of attacks on ATMs across the county this year.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning this week, thieves used an angle grinder to break into a cash machine at Tesco in White Lion Meadow, Whitchurch.
Officers, who say it is not yet known how much was taken in the latest attack, are now working on the theory that the same gang is responsible.
In the Oswestry raid, thieves padlocked the gates at Oswestry Police Station to delay officers while they emptied the machine. The padlocked gate was discovered at about 3am as officers left the station to carry out routine patrols of the area.
CCTV showed a vehicle pulling up outside the building in Park Street. The suspects then got out of the car and padlocked the gates before driving off.
At the time it was linked to a similar incident in Ludlow which took place on the same night. Four men in a black car were seen leaving a shop premises in New Road at about 1am. Police said the doors were forced open, an office was raided and the cash machine was attacked.
In September 2017 thieves made off from a cashpoint at Morrisons in Market Drayton, and a similar attack happened just days before Christmas at the Spar store in Much Wenlock.
Last week it was also revealed that Market Drayton’s cash machines are statistically some of the riskiest to use nationwide. Crime figures show that one in 693 people are targeted at cash machines in the town, making it the ninth worst in the country.
