ATM crime gang linked to a string of building-smashing raids across Northern Ireland get sentences ranging from 34 months in jail to community service

It is the culmination of a case which has been going on since 2018, when a spate of smash-and-grab attacks began, leaving a number of buildings destroyed.

The gang's modus operandi was this: a powerful machine like a digger would be hijacked, then used to rip a cash machine out of a building (often collapsing it in the process), then the vehicle would be torched to destroy evidence.

Four men were yesterday handed sentences at Antrim Crown Court.

The greatest punishment was handed down to Kenneth David Clarke, 32 and from Broughshane Lane in Cullybackey, who was given five years and eight months for conspiracy to steal, commit arson, and cause criminal damage in relation to six ATM raids in Ballyclare, Mallusk, Moira, Crumlin, Antrim and Ballymena.

Half his sentence (some two years, 10 months) will be served in jail, with the rest on licence.

Detective Sergeant Stephen Gardiner said the case shows that “anyone involved in such crimes will be held accountable for the actions they choose to commit”.

As well as sentencing Clarke, judge Roseanne McCormick KC handed down penalties to three other men:

Jamie McConnell, 31 and from Upper Hightown Road to the rural north-west of Belfast, got three-and-a-half years for the same conspiracy offences as Clarke (again, half in jail, half on licence);

Gary John Kincaid, 36 and from Flush Road, also in the countryside north-west of the city, got 11 months for acts capable of encouraging or assisting in burglary or theft (half in jail, half on licence);

And David Edward McClurkin, 39, originally from Templepatrick but now living at Mantlin Park in Kesh, Co Fermanagh, got two years on probation and 60 hours of community service for encouraging or assisting in burglary or theft.

A previous court hearing had been told that the men were suspected of involvement in at least nine raids (with other locations including Bushmills, Ahoghill, and Nutts Corner), and that the damage caused and money stolen combined came to about £800,000.

Judge McCormick said yesterday that while the evidence cannot identify Clarke as having removed ATMs or handled the cash extracted from them, “he accepts by his plea that he is guilty on a joint enterprise basis… acted as a lookout/scout, and took a logistical role in the enterprise”.

McConnell, who got the second-highest sentence, pleaded guilty on the basis that he “played no direct role in the stealing or destruction of the vehicles involved... his role was limited to driving and playing a supporting role".

Sentencing all four men, Judge McCormick said that in general there was a multiplicity of aggravating features including that the offending was pre-planned with a high degree of organisation, high-value of offending and the “gratuitous destruction of property”.

She emphasised however the guilty pleas from each man were “particularly welcome” given the complexities of the case, so an extensive amount of court time had been saved.

Ordering Clarke, McConnell and Kincaid to be taken into custody and advising McClurkin that he was free to leave the dock, the judge adjourned confiscation proceedings until September.