UTV News - Petrol bomb found in ATM rubble

Subscribe to the News Feed Newsback to News

VS
ATM stolen in Templepatrick

Petrol bomb found in ATM rubble

Thieves have used a digger to steal a cash machine from a filling station in Templepatrick, in the 18th smash and grab incident in recent months.

Friday, 11 December 2009

The robbers struck shortly before 3am on Friday in Templepatrick, Co Antrim, on a busy route between the city and the main international airport.

During forensic follow-up examination a suspected unexploded petrol bomb was discovered in the rubble.

The stolen red digger, which had a telescopic arm, was abandoned at the scene.

Article Continues

The raiders made off along the Lylehill Road.

The side of the Spar shop was ripped out. Residents will now have to use neighbouring towns to obtain cash and holidaymakers heading to the airport will not be able to avail.

Business representatives said the gangs were becoming bolder.

Glyn Roberts, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association, warned the whole filling station could have been burned to the ground.

"It seems that the criminal gangs behind these robberies can strike at will in any of our town and villages in Northern Ireland," he said.

"The criminals who steal these ATM machines are not just stealing from small businesses, they are stealing from the whole community who, in rural areas, rely on these machines to withdraw benefits, salaries and pensions."

UUP MLA Danny Kinahan told UTV more needed to be done to catch the thieves.

"We've got to get the banks to think how they can get their tills sorted out so that money is stained and can't be used. We have to try and get the police more resources so they can react quicker and block off the roads and catch the diggers. We need the public to get involved to try and keep an eye on where diggers are," Mr Kinahan said.

A local MP told UTV those behind these attacks seem to have specialist knowledge.

"There seems to be a trend where this money has just been topped up and a number of incidents are just happening the night after the topping-up of these machines", DUP MP William McCrea said.

"Either a pattern has been set or there is information that has been relayed to people. We must find a way to catch these persons."

Graham Mott, spokesman for ATM network Link, said they had offered a reward of up to £25,000 for evidence leading to the capture of gangs behind the attacks.

He said there were several ways of making the machines more secure including using bollards, improving the anchoring of the machine in the wall, CCTV and ink dye.

"Evidence from the past would suggest that we have got a group of people involved in this," he said.

Many of the earlier digger thefts have been in the Fermanagh border region with the Irish Republic.

© UTV News

Send to a friend

Email To
Your Name
Comment
Close
POST COMMENT 2 Comments
FirstFirst   Previous  1  Next    LastLast 

At 14:06 on 11 December 2009, G wrote:

Surely they can put some sort of exploding dye packs inside the machine to destroy the money if the machine is disturbed. If this is done and made known about there will be no point in attempting to steal the machines!

At 14:06 on 11 December 2009, bert wrote:

Christ, what is it with Northern Ireland and farmers ram-raiding cashmachines every other week... its developing into a culture now!!!

POST YOUR COMMENT
Name:
Email Address:
Location:
Your Comment:
Verification Code: Captcha Code Get New Code


[Before posting, please take a moment to familiarise yourself with our house rules. All comments are moderated and will not appear immediately. Any information you enter, including email and web addresses, will be displayed on our site if passed by our moderators.]


Local News

Three injured in Belfast fire Sword used in Newtownabbey robbery Man charged with UVF membership Electric blanket baby death 'tragedy'  Video Available Trio remanded over UVF pipe bomb attack  Video Available DUP in unionist unity call  Video Available McKinney seeks SDLP nomination  Video Available Dale Farm announces jobs boost  Video Available Adams’ brother to fight extradition Prisoner died after ' inadequate' care Hospital warned over X-ray scandal West Belfast security alert Gun seized in west Belfast St Patrick's Day warning for students MLAs vote for policing deal  Video Available Baggott answers Newry critics Second man charged with schoolgirl rape Seven held over Irish Al Qaida plot Aer Lingus to axe 670 jobs Banker remanded over grooming child City tour buses seized by customs  Video Available Man knocked down during robbery Pensioner threatened with iron bar 'Slow recovery' in house prices  Video Available Crime levels at '12-year low' Paisley Jr selected in North Antrim  Video Available UUP no vote 'not a crisis'  Video Available Bush in NI peace plea to Cameron UUP and SF in meeting row  Video Available Carroll's widow in plea to politicians  Video Available Four arrested in Operation Ballast Republican murder bid case opens Woman, children tied up in Moneymore 103 'migrant' children sent abroad Two charged with child sex offences NI civil servants strike in pay row 150 retail jobs for city DJ wins Sunday World libel payout Two women win £37k in harassment cases More legal work in soldier inquest Supermarket plan to create 500 jobs New powers to combat kerb crawling Massereene soldiers remembered Newry getaway car 'recovered' UUP says 'no' despite Clinton call Woman attacked with hammers 14 rescued from Mourne Mountains Police investigate petrol bomb attack Man charged with making threats to kill Teen remanded on child sex charges More Local News

National News

Diary Academics demand independent inquiry into new nuclear reactors Make defence spending more relevant to conflict, says Lord Guthrie More than two extinct species a year in England, report reveals Our secret service agents deserve better These dogs are fashion victims Incest case: wavering, havering – and failing A lifetime of rape and terror, from toddlers to adults Samantha Cameron to show human side of her 'Tory boy' Litany of failures that let father rape his daughters for years Police forces face threat of 'racist' label over stop and searches Strikes are back, but unlikely to trouble Gordon Brown Red-faced and blue at PMQs Bank pay disclosure could start at £500,000 High-speed rail network plans to be unveiled Andy Burnham sets out options for elderly care funding Police forces not doing enough to tackle antisocial behaviour, survey finds What and when MI5 knew about torture Lotteries can be destabilising, admits Ed Balls New inspection regime finds one in seven secondaries 'inadequate' Tube Lines, Boris and the Law The Lib Dem assault on online liberty Tories would play leading role in European Union, says William Hague Sisters raped by father will 'suffer for many years' Authorities apologise for failing to protect family from father who raped them Gerry Adams's brother fights extradition over child abuse charges Care home manager denies murder of two elderly residents British Airways seeks last-minute deal to avert strike Our asylum system's fatal failures FSA to impose stricter 'stress tests' on banks Straw defends new identities for criminals whose lives are endangered Tortured logic of intelligence chief Charles Allen to run EMI's music business London Underground ordered to plug £450m PPP funding gap Feed-in tariff 'killing off' burgeoning UK small turbine industry Tories' media policy is their own, not Rupert Murdoch's, says Ed Vaizey Key shadow minister supports Tory whip over Speaker Society daily: 10.03.10 William Hague speech - live Tech chiefs attack digital economy bill Prime minister's questions - live BBC chief: 6 Music listeners 'at heart of commercial radio demographic' Straw accuses Cameron of 'outright gerrymandering' over boundary reforms Second Northern Ireland TV personality expected to stand as MP William Hague: Tories would avoid 'instant confrontation' with EU David Cameron rejects 'left or right' political labels Industrial production fell in January after snow disruption Boris Berezovsky wins libel case over Litvinenko murder Why university standards have fallen Boris Johnson: is his Cycle Safety Plan enough? More National News

International News

Palestinians snub peace talks because of Israeli homes expansion Not just cricket – Bollywood treatment gives India its very own 'Superbowling' Libel laws: from Victorian businessmen to an international business All the classroom's a stage, as RSC helps bring Shakespeare to life Genomes of an entire family sequenced in world first Colleen LaRose: all-American neighbour or terrorist Jihad Jane? UN brings in top scientists to review IPCC report on Himalayan glaciers No fridge is better than no house Corey Haim: death of former child star and 1980s teen idol Jihad Jane wrecks the case for racial profiling Lula stubs out smoking habit Inside Alan Greenspan's nightmare Yves Saint Laurent celebrations tainted by temper and drug allegations Rush Limbaugh, Costa Rica bound? Labour leaves blacklisted high and dry Louis Vuitton goes back to basics with a return to glamour and grace Half of all food sent to Somalia is stolen, says UN report Ashton risks renewed UK-French feud over European military HQ Glenn Beck's Massa attack Cern's giant collider aims for world record Father of kidnapped Sahil Saeed returns to UK from Pakistan Burmese election law requires NLD to expel Aung San Suu Kyi The new Buddhist atheism OECD: UK has worst record for social mobility of any developed country Bibi's snub to Biden may backfire Time for drug giants to jump into the patent pool? What the Sami people can teach us about adapting to climate change Libya-Switzerland feud deepens as Gaddafi faces travel ban Muslim convert Colleen LaRose, aka Jihad Jane, faces terror charges Chanel fashion show: iceberg chic sends chill down Paris catwalk Torture and the crimes of history: not too much masochism please Fidel Castro TV series charts 638 assassination attempts Israel sorry for announcing homes plan during Biden visit Israeli court to hear civil case over death of Rachel Corrie in Gaza Why mujahideen and Saudi lawyers hold the key to peace in Afghanistan All dolled up: Mad Men stars to be made into Barbies Beautiful Betty: a warning from home-making history DNA from fossilised eggshells could help reconstruct lives of extinct birds Iranian suitors offered online marriage course Bob Geldof anger at BBC over Band Aid allegations Pope's brother asks for forgiveness over violence at school British soldiers killed in Afghanistan 'inadequately trained', coroner says Combined threat of British Airways and Network Rail strikes could disrupt travel plans for millions Eric Massa 'groped multiple male staffers' Israeli go-ahead for new settlement homes casts cloud over Biden visit La Rafle confronts wartime stain on French history The day Jacqueline Kennedy wrote to my grandma The car in front … is a Toyota stuck at 94mph Deval Patrick is not Barack Obama Breast milk cheese on the menu in New York More International News

News

Don't Miss

Around the site