Northern Ireland ATM thieves strike again
The gang that has been striking at external ATMs in rural convenience stores has executed another brazen theft, this time in Bushmills, Co Antrim.
Print16 April 2019
The gang that has been travelling around Northern Ireland and the Republic stealing entire ATM machines out of convenience stores in the dead of night – right through the walls – has struck again, this time in the small town of Bushmills, Co. Antrim.
The Irish Times reports that the ATM at the shop was ripped directly through the wall by the gang, using a stolen digger followed by a flatbed truck to leave the scene. Both vehicles were later found burned out, in order to destroy any forensic evidence.
A woman staying in a nearby hostel told police she heard a series of loud bangs during the night but thought nothing of it and did not raise the alarm. Ironically, she said that she told her sister the next morning that “unless they were stealing an ATM, I don’t know what that sound was.”
North Antrim Assembly member Jim Allister told RTÉ today that a “paucity of policing in North Antrim” was making life easy for the criminals. The PSNI has set up a special task force to investigate the crimes and catch those responsible, with no luck as yet.
“With barely a police officer or police vehicle available within north Antrim during the night,” he said, “the area has been left wide open for these gangs, who are not ignorant of the opportunities lack of policing presents.”
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