Cash Machine Heist Fails as Burglar Gets Nearly Five Years
George Jones, 31, has been slammed with a four-year, nine-month prison sentence at Maidstone Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle and dangerous driving related to a brazen cash machine theft attempt.
Dawn Raid on Longfield Co-Op
The crime unfolded at 4am on 6 April 2022, when two vans rolled up outside the Co-Op store on Station Road, Longfield. One van barreled through the shop’s front window, while a strap was tied around the cash machine inside and hooked to the chassis bar of the second van.
The crooks tried twice to yank the cash machine out. On the second go, the van’s chassis bar was wrecked. The gang fled the scene, swapping vehicles for a third van nearby in Sandbanks Hill.
Evidence and Previous Sentences Connect the Dots
A shirt spotted near the scene linked Jones directly to the raid and the getaway vehicle.
Jones’s jail term follows the recent convictions of two other men who collectively faced 16 years behind bars for six similar offences across Kent between late 2019 and early 2021.
Last September, another man got over five years for participating in a comparable crime, showing a worrying pattern of these cash machine snatch attempts in the area.
