Digger Used by Thieves to Steal ATM Machine, Containing £80,000, from a Supermarket
Gardai have arrested 3 men and recovered the van believed to have been used in the theft of a cash machine containing over £80,000 from a shop in Newtownbutler (IRL).
A mechanical digger was used to smash the Automatic Teller Machine from the wall of Declan McCabe’s SuperValu store on the Clones Road in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The PSNI has been heavily criticised for taking 12 hours to get to the scene of the crime.
They blame the threat from dissident republican terrorists in the area for the delay.
The men who were arrested are from the Clones district and two of them are brothers who are well known in the Border area.
They have links to another man involved in the theft of machinery.
Their initial intention may have been to steal the digger but on seeing it parked within 20 metres of the ATM decided to go for the cash instead.
A Garda spokesman said officers assisting the PSNI in the investigation of the theft of the ATM in Newtownbutler arrested the men on Sunday.
They were questioned and released on Tuesday without charge.
The spokesman said investigations are continuing.
The LDV van used as the getaway vehicle had not been reported stolen and police are checking to see if it was brought in from England or is a “ringed” or cloned vehicle bearing false identification plates.
So far the cash machine has not been found. It would take heavy cutting gear, similar to the type used by the Fire and Rescue Service to free people trapped in crashed cars, to open an ATM.
Unlike the metal cases used by security personnel to carry cash, they do not explode in a cloud of indelible blue dye when tampered with, thereby marking the money and the thief.
It was around 4.30am on Saturday morning that three masked men took the mechanical digger from a building site across the road from the SuperValu store and used it to smash down the wall around the ATM and lift it into the back of the LDV van.
Dramatic pictures from the shop’s security cameras showing an obviously experienced digger driver removing the ATM in two and a half minutes were broadcast on national television.
After stealing the cash machine the thieves fled towards the nearby Border.
People living in the area heard and saw what was happening and called the police but it took 12 hours for officers to arrive at the scene
On Tuesday morning the most senior police officers in Fermanagh, Chief Superintendent Michael Skuce and Chief Inspector Graham Dodds, travelled to Newtownbutler and met the owner of the SuperValu store in an effort to reassure him.
Speaking afterwards Mr. McCabe said they told him the area would be properly policed.
“They have given me assurances the area will see big increases in policing,” he stated.
“They guaranteed me they are going to police the area. It will not be a free-for-all for criminals. They will be seen to be policing it,” said Mr. McCabe.
“At the end of the day they are taking it seriously. They fell down on that occasion and they are not prepared to fall down again,” he stated.
“All I’m asking for as a substantial rate payer is that I get the same response time as someone in Lisburn or Belfast. We demand a proper police service,” he added.
“Unfortunately response times like that to a major crime puts out the wrong message,” he said.
After stealing the cash machine the thieves attempted to cover their tracks.
“They set fire to the digger, which is stupidity on a petrol station forecourt, but them boys don’t think of the risks for the local community,” stated Mr. McCabe.
He said that if the fire had spread to the pumps it could have “blown the place to pieces”.
Mr. McCabe added that he could not praise the Fire and Rescue Service enough.
He pointed out that when the alarm was raised the firemen were in bed.
They got up, dressed, went to the Fire Station in Lisnaskea and drove the six miles to Newtownbutler, all within the space of 15 minutes of getting the call.
“That’s an exceptional service,” he stated.
He also praised his neighbours and local residents for their “fantastic” response in raising the alarm.
“It gives you confidence to keep going and try and build a better business in the town,” said Mr. McCabe.
Although the front porch and roof were damaged when the ATM was ripped from the wall the supermarket was back in business within hours of the theft.
Mr. McCabe’s priority now is to have a new ATM installed in his shop as soon as possible.
“When the banks closed in the town I worked hard to get it,” he explained.
That was a couple of years ago and since then the people of Newtownbutler have come to rely on the Bank of Ireland ATM located within a shop which includes a Post Office, SuperValu store, off-licence and filling station.
“There’s no bank in the town and we have over 60 staff and they’re all paid into their accounts and they’re only way to get the money out is through the hole in the wall,” explained Mr. McCabe.
He said many people in the town relied on the ATM to get access to their bank account and they have now been left “helpless”.
“The nearest one is now in Lisnaskea,” he pointed out.
“The facility itself is invaluable,” stressed Mr. McCabe.
