Brazen Hampshire gang sentenced to 50 years collectively following £1.2m crime spree involving burglaries and blowing up cash points

Between 2019 and 2020 the shameless crooks stole high-powered cars, money, jewellery, motorbikes, bicycles and even a one-year-old French Bulldog, during 31 burglaries across Hampshire, Dorset and Surrey.

They also put people's lives at risk in a string of 14 attempted ATM explosions, successfully managing to take money from three machines, but causing a total of £255,928 in damages and losses.

During one of the ATM explosions, a family was asleep in the flat above where the fire was started, while another led to the evacuation of a student halls of residence in Southampton.

In sentencing them today (Feb 25), Judge Angela Morris slammed the gang’s actions as the ‘worst kind of criminality.’

Speaking at Winchester Crown Court she said: ‘None of you gave a moment’s thought to the danger you put those residents in or for the trauma they would suffer.

‘This kind of offending involves the worst kind of criminality, motivated by unadulterated greed.

‘This was only stopped by the intervention of the police.’

Ringleader David Patrick Hughes, 31, of Street End Close, Hook, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to steal, conspiring to burgle and conspiring to cause an explosion.

He was jailed for 17 years while Cameron Chivers, 24, of Lydgate Road, Southampton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause an explosion, two counts of conspiracy to steal, and conspiracy to burgle. He was jailed for eight years and four months.

Colin Golding, 26, of Reading Road, Farnborough, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause an explosion, conspiracy to steal, and conspiracy to burgle and was jailed for nine years.

Adam Jones, 31, of Little Abshot Road, Fareham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause an explosion, two counts of conspiracy to steal, and conspiracy to burgle. He was jailed for 13 and a half years.

Jesse Matthews, 21, of Coniston Road, Bordon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause an explosion and conspiracy to steal. He was jailed for six years and eight months

Winchester Crown Court heard the gang would meticulously plan the attacks on cash machines, stealing cars in the lead up to a job to use as getaway vehicles with any potential spoils.

When carrying out the attacks on the ATMs, they would break open the machine, before pumping gas in using a hose and then igniting it in the hope of causing a violent explosion to gain access to the money held inside.

In the majority of instances, the men fled the scene empty-handed, with no explosion having occurred. However, the fires caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

And in one of the attacks, at a Tesco Express in Bishopstoke, when the ATM failed to explode, a stolen Land Rover Defender was unsuccessfully rammed into the ATM in an attempt to gain access, causing structural damage to the building in the process.

Following a series of dawn raids at addresses across the county, involving 150 officers, the men were arrested and charged for their involvement in the burglaries and explosions.

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ATMs targeted also included one at a HSBC in Park Gate, Fareham, on August 27, 2019 and a Co-op store in Stubbington on September 9, 2019.

The conspiracy to burgle charges relate to 31 burglaries which totalled value of goods stolen and damage caused at £375,000.

These included one at Brook Lane, Fareham, on August 10, 2019 where two Husqvarna motorbikes and a bicycle were stolen from a double garage and one at Avington Close, Eastleigh on July 8, 2019, in which a one-year-old French Bulldog puppy was stolen after suspect climbed through a ground floor window. The dog was later recovered.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Steve Court said: ‘These five men gave no thought for the residents of the homes they were burgling or the danger they were putting people in when exploding ATMs.

‘Their only thought was to feed their own greed, no matter the cost, both monetary and emotionally, to the hard-working business owners whose properties they damaged, to the residents' of the addresses they burgled, and to the family who thought they had lost their beloved pet.

‘As an investigation team, we have dedicated many hours to tracking down the gang and ensuring we can prove their involvement.

‘They thought they were above the law, that they could steal with impunity, but let this serve as a warning. We will catch you.’

Hughes, Jones, Chivers and Golding must serve at least two thirds of their sentence and it was ordered Matthews must serve half of his.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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