Fri, 20 Mar 2020
Five men have been sentenced for their part in a series of violent robberies, burglaries and destructive cash machine raids using stolen vehicles in a case prosecuted by No5 Barristers’ Chambers counsel Mark Heywood QC and Siobhan Collins.
Shaun Bates, 26, Michael Bowen, 31, Karl Hastings, 46, and Oliver Higgins, 33 were all jailed while Shawn Bancroft, 27, avoided imprisonment and was handed a community order.
The sentences come after of 11 men were found guilty of a range of offences relating to the three-month crime spree which saw ATMs ripped from banks, supermarkets and convenience stores across Birmingham and Solihull starting last March.
Thirteen vehicles were taken and they also stole around £40,000 worth of cigarettes.
Sitting at Birmingham Crown Court Judge Heidi Kubic QC sentenced Hastings , of Barnett Road, Kingstanding, to seven years and six months; Bowen, of no fixed address, to five years; Bates , of Sylvan Grove, Shirley, was handed three years and six months; Higgins , of Packhorse Lane, Hollywood, was imprisoned for 16 months and Bancroft, of Faircroft Road, Castle Bromwich, received a 12 month community order.
Bates was also disqualified from driving for four years nine months.
Two more defendants are yet to be sentenced.
To read more on this case visit: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birmingham-cashpoint-robbery-gang-jailed-17950922
