Police vow to find rest of £1.1 million stolen by Shropshire ATM raiders

The gang members, who struck 30 times in 16 months across Shropshire and beyond, are serving combined jail terms of more than 32 years but have only been ordered to pay back cash worth around 10 per cent of their ill-gotten gains.

Police will also sell off luxury cars, clothes and designer watches seized from some of the gang members to recuperate the stolen money, around £126,000 of which will be paid back to the crooks' final victim Tesco.

Ringleader Noel Reilly, from Walsall but most recently based in Birmingham, was judged to have made the most from the raids - nearly £1.3 million - and ordered to repay just under £200,000. However he was only told to pay around £65,000 in cash, with the rest said to be tied up in his assets.

Judge Anthony Lowe also allowed Reilly's personal number plate to be taken off one of the seized cars and returned to him.

Martin Steadman and Martin Stubbs, both from Wolverhampton, were deemed by the court to have made more than £1.2 million but told to repay just £10 and £74,000 respectively.

The two other members of the gang locked up over the raids were judged to have made far less than the others.

Mohammed Maneer Khan, from Wolverhampton, was ordered to pay back £3,000 of the £362,700 he was deemed to have made, while Marcus Burton, from Birmingham, was told to pay just £10 of his £231,488 worth of stolen cash after being judged to have no assets.

Burton sniggered when the order was made in September 2019.

The detective in charge of the investigation vowed to "relentlessly pursue" the gang for the rest of the money they stole across 14 counties from June 2017 until September 2018.

Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Kinrade, of West Mercia Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “Our pursuit of those involved in organised crime does not stop when they are sentenced.

"This series of confiscation hearings demonstrates that we will continue to relentlessly pursue those involved in organised crime to strip them of their assets. That includes literally taking the designer shoes off their feet and the designer shirts off their backs.

“Whilst we have recovered a large amount of cash and valuables the public can be assured that we will relentlessly pursue the gang members for the outstanding money.

"The outstanding benefit figures are a debt for life and we will revisit these orders on a regular basis as part of our management of organised crime gang members.”

“Organised crime blights our communities and will continue to be a priority for our force. "

The spate of incidents initially involved break-ins at Albrighton and Newport fire stations in Shropshire in the summer of 2017, when equipment that was supposed to be used to save lives was snatched for use in the crimes.

Then the gang struck at The Co-op in Ludlow, Shropshire, where more than £115,000 was stolen.

There were subsequent thefts including at Crossgates Service Station, in Llandrindod Wells, Powys, and at Tesco Express in Whitchurch where they took more than £50,000.

In total the gang raked in about £1,163,450 and caused £201,365 damage in just 23 of the 30 burglaries carried out from June 2017 to September 2018.

The conspiracy was finally uncovered after officers put Stubbs under surveillance and the unit was able to link his movements with potential burglaries and his links with the other defendants.

Reilly, 40, of Weoley Castle, Birmingham, and Steadman, 36, of Luce Road, Low Hill, Wolverhampton, were both jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Stubbs, 32, of Asheridge Close, Wednesfield, was jailed for six years and eight months.

Khan, of Great Hampton Street, Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, was sentenced to four years and 10 months.

Marcus Burton, 34, of Hollywood also Birmingham was jailed for five years and 10 months.

Anyone with information should phone Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.