Lewis Murkin (pictured) and his gang blew up cash machines across the north of England and Wales
A hole-in-the-wall gang based in a caravan park netted more than £400,000 over 15 ATM attacks in a year-long spree across Wales and England.
The five men ran a criminal empire from Rhyl, where they organised across north Wales, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, and West Yorkshire.
There, they mingled with families while secretly plotting their next heists, hoping to avoid obvious detection by Greater Manchester Police.
Their cover was blown when three of the gang were arrested by armed police in Oldham during the 15th incident on February 15 this year.
Philip Clarke, Lewis Murkin and Ryan Wilson pulled up outside the Post Office on Lees Road in a stolen VW Golf at around 4am.
One of them got out and moved towards the cash machine and started attacking it, but within seconds the men were pinned to the ground by armed police.
By piping gas into the machines then igniting it to cause an explosion, they had netted £418,500. Nearly all the raids were at Co-op stores – and always between midnight and 5am.
Pictured: A blast in Bromley Cross, Bolton, as the gang blow up a cash machine in one of their raids across Greater Manchester
Philip Clarke (left) and Ryan Wilson (right) ran their criminal empire from Rhyl, targeting cash machines in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and north Wales
The gang – which also included Michael Cash and Martin Goldstraw – are now facing lengthy jail sentences.
Sgt Rick Castley, of GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: ‘When they were arrested, they had gas canisters in the back of the car and all the cutting equipment.
‘We had a surveillance operation, we were behind them that day. It was clear what they were going to do.’
Michael Cash (left) and Martin Goldstraw (right) were part of a gang that blew up cash machines across the north of Wales and England
Operation Cass was launched by GMP following a spike in ATM offences in mid-2018. Machines were blown up and safes opened with angle grinders.
Sgt Castley said: ‘It was early 2019 that we had to start a proactive operation and start looking at certain people.’
The gang, all from Stockport, struck twice in one day in picturesque villages in West Yorkshire and Wales in March 2018. Both attempts failed, as did the next two.
But following the fifth – on home territory in Stockport – the men escaped with £91,170.
Pictured: A cash machine explodes in Stockport after the gang pumped gas into it and then ignited it to get inside the ATM
The gang piped gas into the machines using this equipment, then ignited it in order to cause ATMs to explode
Sgt Castley said: ‘It is quite unique, people blowing up ATMs. There are not many people with the expertise or knowledge. You are only looking at one or two teams doing it in the region. By the nature of the methods used, we identified 14 offences as being linked.’
Cops combed CCTV looking for offenders in similar clothing in different incidents. They examined the roles they played and the cars they used.
Detectives also trawled telephone data after mapping raids, and looked at key players in ‘certain types of burglaries and robberies’ in the town.
Sgt Castley said: ‘We looked at the offending patterns. It was in Stockport, some of it, then Cheshire and north Wales.
‘It looked like it was predominantly around Stockport. We will just try and narrow it down then with intelligence, build up a picture.
‘That’s how we identified this group. They used gas to put into the machine to cause an explosion and then cutting equipment to get inside.
‘But what happens is the people who sponsor these machines, they put more and more security measures in all the time. It might be another steel bar, an additional lock.’
The gang created a gap in the face of ATMs to insert gas, which they then ignited, causing the machine to break.
Sgt Castley added: ‘The companies that operate them now put a gas suppressant in them to nullify the gas to prevent an explosion.’
Seven of the fifteen raids failed, while another seven were successful. During the final operation, the gang was busted.
In each incident, stolen, high-powered cars – BMWs, and VW Golfs – on false plates were used.
From March 1, 2018, to the gang’s arrest on February 15, 2019, there were 36 attacks on ATMs across Greater Manchester in which there was an explosion. There were seven in Cheshire and six in north Wales.
Since the men were detained, there have been none in Greater Manchester, three in Cheshire and one in north Wales.
Lewis Murkin, 33, of Stockport; Philip Clarke, 32, of Gorton; Ryan Wilson, 31, of Stockport; and Michael Cash, 30, of Weldon Crescent, Stockport, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or property; and conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court. Martin Goldstraw, 43, of Stockport, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.
Murkin has a criminal history. In 2010, he and associate Philip Clarke were part of a team jailed for carrying out 20 robberies and stealing £1.8m-worth of jewellery. The five men will be sentenced by Judge John Potter at a later date.