George Jones, 31, has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison at Maidstone Crown Court after admitting conspiracy to burgle and dangerous driving related to a cash machine robbery last year.
The crime took place at 4am on 6 April 2022 outside a Co-Op store on Station Road, Longfield. Two vans arrived at the scene, with one van smashing through the front window of the store. The thieves then wrapped a strap around the cash machine and attached it to the chassis bar of the other van. They made two attempts to pull the machine free. The second attempt broke the van’s chassis bar, but the gang persisted.
The three men then switched to a third van at nearby Sandbanks Hill. Police quickly linked this vehicle to the burglary. Officers spotted the van speeding along the M25, leading to a high-speed chase. The van ran red lights, drove the wrong way on a dual carriageway, and reached speeds over 100mph. The pursuit ended in a park in Banstead where the suspects abandoned the van and fled on foot.
Jones was found hiding under a bush thanks to the efforts of a police dog and cooperation between Surrey and Metropolitan Police officers. Police also recovered a shirt that connected Jones to the scene and the vehicle.
This sentence follows previous jail terms last year totaling over 16 years for two men involved in similar cash machine crimes in Kent between 2019 and 2021. Another man was sentenced to five years in September 2022 for a cash machine theft in Canterbury.
Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Greenstreet said: “With a fourth man now serving a lengthy prison term for this kind of offending, the message to criminals is clear: Come to Kent to steal cash machines and you will be caught and jailed.
I’d like to praise officers from Kent, the Metropolitan Police, and Surrey who responded so swiftly, tracking down this man despite his dangerous attempts to get away. The hard work of investigators has led to guilty pleas.
Measures to prevent future offences are now in place. I hope staff and businesses across the county feel safer knowing those behind these crimes are behind bars.”
Originally published by UKNIP.
