Hapless robbers try to blow up ATMs to steal cash inside - but don't get a penny

A pair of have-a-go thieves tried to blow up ATMs to steal the cash inside - but didn't manage to get a penny.

Jamie Masters, 34, and Wayne Lewis, 42, tried to blow up two cash points, causing more than £100,000 of damage, but had to leave penniless and later ended up in prison.

In the first incident, the pair attached a gas canister to an ATM in Newlands Centre in Witham, Essex, in the early hours of 22 March, 2022, endeavouring to light it to form a makeshift explosive.

The explosion caused significant damage to the premises, but they didn't manage to get their hands on any cash.

Around two and a half weeks later CCTV footage showed the pair putting another gas canister near an ATM outside a Tesco in Laindon, Essex, nearly 30 miles away from the first attempted robbery.

Instead of igniting the gas, the makeshift explosive caused a firework-like explosion, but again the pair didn't manage to get their hands on any cash.

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Police used CCTV to identify Masters and Lewis and they were arrested two and a half weeks later.

Both admitted charges of conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to cause an explosion with intent to endanger life or property.

Masters, of Harold Wood, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison, and Lewis, from Woodford Green, received six years at Southend Crown Court.

Det Insp Frazer Low, from Essex Police's serious and organised crime unit, said: "More than anything else, the actions of Lewis and Masters were incredibly dangerous, to themselves, to anyone who was nearby and to the property they were targeting.

"Neither had the knowledge or skills to control explosions and they put the safety of the public – and themselves – at significant risk.

"Despite their actions, they left each scene without a penny, so their actions really were in vain.

"Thankfully, our team was able to act quickly to identify them, arrest them and build a case so overwhelming that they had very little option but to admit their guilt."