‘DNA of Barry Richard Smith found on digger involved in ATM heist’ court told

Opening the trial against 33-year-old Barry Richard Smith at Antrim Crown Court, prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher submitted that without any innocent explanation for his DNA being found inside the stolen Caterpillar excavator, “you will be firmly convinced” that Smith was guilty.

Smith, from the Ballyutoag Road at Nutts Corner, faces four charges arising from the incident in the early hours of February 1, 2019 – two counts of stealing ATMs containing cash amounting to £156,540, causing criminal damage to Asda at Junction One, and taking the digger without consent.

Ms Gallagher outlined to the jury how the case fell into two aspects – the theft of a white Mitsubishi pick up truck in Ballyeaston and then the incident at Asda itself.

The excavator, she told the jury, was driven from a nearby building site to waste ground beside the supermarket car park at around 7pm on January 31, and that’s where it sat until around 2am.

Meanwhile at around 10pm, a white Mitsubishi pick up truck was stolen from a property in Ballyeaston village, and Ms Gallagher said that, along with a dark coloured car, the two vehicles drove in convoy to Junction One.

Although the ATM theft itself was not captured on CCTV, she said it was common case the digger was used to rip the ATMs from the supermarket wall and the stolen machines were then loaded onto the back of the pick up truck and driven away.

While the money and the ATMs have never been recovered, the stolen pick up truck was later found burnt out, said the lawyer adding that when the cab of the digger was forensically examined, a mixed DNA profile was found on the left hand control panel.

Those profiles, explained Ms Gallagher, contained the DNA of at least two people but that Smith’s profile was “the major contributor.”

During the trial, the jury will hear evidence from the owner of the digger who will testify that he never employed Smith and there was “no known connection” between him and the digger.

Smith was arrested and questioned but while he denied involvement, he did not offer any explanation for the forensic findings.

“It is accepted that the defendant’s DNA is present in the cab of the digger... and the reasonable conclusion or inference that you will be invited to come to by the prosecution is that the defendant drove the vehicle, the digger, on the night in question,” concluded Ms Gallagher.

The trial, expected to last into next week, continues.

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