Birmingham cashpoint burglars: Police react to sentences for gang who stole cars & 999 gear

West Midlands Police have spoken out after a gang of four prolific cashpoint burglars from Birmingham have been jailed for more than three decades for crimes across the UK.

Justin Buckley, Chris Hands, Reece Pedley and John O’Shaugnessy stole cars from innocent drivers and gear from 999 crews to carry out their crime spree - with 17 offences in the space of a year from 2022 to 2023.

WMP Major Crime Proactive Team worked with officers at West Mercia, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Thames Valley and Wiltshire Police to snare the crooks who also attacked police as they attempted to avoid the law.

Police traced some of the equipment they stole from fire crews back to a burglary in Warwickshire where £50,000 worth of specialist tools were stolen from a station in 2022.

They caused damage estimated to cost over £1 million to a Tesco Express and a neighbouring baker’s when sparks from an angle grinder they used caused a fire in Kenilworth. 

Thousands of pounds was stolen from a cash machine at Snappy Tomato Pizza in Coventry. The gang threw rocks and bricks at officers when they were caught on camera in a stolen BMW with false number plates at Tesco on Hewlett Road in Cheltenham.

Police used a combination of mobile phone data, CCTV, vehicle tracking data and witness accounts to snare the gang who were arrested in November and December last year. The gang were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday, (8 April):

• Justin Buckley, aged 40, of Brindle Court, Hall Green, Birmingham was jailed for eight years and four months.
• Chris Hands, aged 37, of Addison Road, Kings Heath, was jailed for nine years and six months. In addition to the conspiracy charges, he admitted a charge of burglary.
• Reece Pedley, aged 34, Pendeen Road, Yardley Wood, was jailed for seven years and seven months.
• John O’Shaughnessy, aged 36, of Playdon Grove, Kings Heath, was jailed for eight years.

‘Thankfully we’ve now brought them to justice’

DC Edward Costello, from our Major Crime Proactive Team, said: “This was a professional and organised criminal gang who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from businesses, and weren’t afraid to use force to get what they wanted.

“They threatened and used significant force against civilians and police who tried to intervene, and they were persistent. On one day, they broke into a Tesco Express near Oxford, but found the cash machine empty. Two hours later, they struck at a Tesco Express in Warwickshire.

“They knew where these machines were and how to access them.“Everyone knew their role, whether it was acting as a lookout or cutting into the machines. The theft of the equipment obviously compromised the ability of the fire service to protect communities. Thankfully, we’ve now brought them to justice and they will be spending many years behind bars.”