A GANG of smash-and-grab raiders is behind bars today (Monday, November 30) after a dramatic cashpoint machine theft using a JCB.

This daring early-morning theft was caught on security cameras at the Co-op in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire.

The gang struck in 2013 but were caught after what Teesside Crown Court heard was "brilliant" police work.

The five men - three from County Durham and two from Lancashire - escaped with thousands of pounds.

Their barristers said they were sorry and remorseful for their parts in the conspiracy.

John Corrigan, 28, of Dinsdale Drive, Belmont, Durham, was locked up for three years and seven months.

Jason Mawson, 45, of Gray Street, Crook, County Durham, was jailed for three years and four months.

Paul Wilson, 49, of Low Moor Road, Darlington, formerly from nearby West Auckland, got 45 months.

Adam Palmer, 22, of Wharton Avenue, Heysham, near Morecambe, Lancashire, was locked up for three years.

Stefan Hargreaves, of Stanley Road, Heysham, received three-and-a-half years from Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC.

Detective Constable Clair Gascoyne of the Scarborough Serious Crime Team, who led the investigation, said: “It was outlandish in the extreme the way this criminal gang conspired to smash their way into the shop using a stolen tele-handler and then rip out the cash machine containing thousands of pounds.

“No matter how well they thought they had planned ‘the job’ with the aim of getting away with it, the suspects clearly hadn’t reckoned on North Yorkshire Police’s sheer determination to hunt them down and our aim to put them behind bars for a very long time.

“It was certainly a complex investigation that was painstaking at times while establishing the evidence and building the case, but the end result is very satisfying and we hope the victims will gain some comfort from the outcome at court."

Detectives from North Yorkshire Police were helped by colleagues in Durham and Lancashire to carry out an exhaustive investigation to track down the suspects.

They linked phone records, DNA from discarded cigarettes, finger prints, footprints and clothing to the gang, along with suspicious activity and vehicle movements at a nearby camp site where the men had gathered before and after the incident.

Judge Bourne-Arton said each man - who all pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to steal - played "a significant and vital role" in the scheme.

He said: "You were all carefully disguised because you knew you would be the subject of CCTV, which allowed you to remain unidentified.

"Those who carry out offences in rural areas should now realise that they will be sentenced to terms of imprisonment where appropriate.

"Crimes in the rural areas are an increasing problem because when police forces are stretched, some times those areas are not covered.

"Those who carry out work there are vulnerable . . . But even though they were stretched, they were able to bring you to justice by painstaking and skilled investigation."