Four are jailed for their parts in cash machine robbery

And two others who took part in the second robbery plot were jailed for four years following a two-and-a-half week trial at Warwick Crown Court.

Shaun Irwin, Joseph Martin, Shane Stojsavljevic, Andrew Ross and two other men, Shaun Mills and Ryan McTighe - all from Coventry - had all denied a charge of conspiracy to rob.

But after six hours 40 minutes, the jury found all six guilty by unanimous verdicts, and also found Irwin, Martin and Mills guilty of the £80,000 robbery at the Halifax branch in Leamington, which they had also denied.

Irwin and Martin were jailed for eight years for the Halifax raid, with consecutive two-year terms for the later conspiracy to rob.

Stojsavljevic and Ross were jailed for four years for the 
conspiracy.

But sentencing of Mills and McTighe was adjourned and they were both remanded in custody.

The robbery took place at about 1am on August 20 2009, when two security guards were delivering cash to the Halifax bank on the Parade in Leamington

As the guards were filling the machines, three men jumped out and one of them kicked open the outer door to get to the cash machine as the guards took refuge behind an inner ‘airlock’ door. The robbers grabbed the cash trays containing a total of £80,000 and ran back to the getaway car. The Audi raced to Vicarage Road, Leamington, where the men piled out, leaving a pick axe handle and the empty cash trays inside, and ran to a hired white van with a black stripe and another vehicle which were then driven off.

Mobile phone analysis showed a large number of calls between Irwin, Mills and Martin which ended just before the robbery and did not resume until they were back in Coventry.

About two weeks later, a similar robbery was planned, but it was aborted by the would-be 
robbers late in the day because the police had been alerted to the fact that a car was following the security van

Sentencing them, Judge Marten Coates said of the Halifax robbery: “Thankfully no violence was used because the two guards escaped from you, but violence was threatened and there was a considerable amount of planning.”

Of the conspiracy, Mark Graffius, for Stojsavljevic, suggested that had been ‘a reconnaissance’ rather than a robbery about to be staged.

And Judge Coates said: “I’m not convinced it was going to happen that night, but again it had a degree of planning, with the following of that van for some distance.”

Just two weeks later the same security guards suspected they were being targeted again and were being followed as they drove their armoured van from Coventry to make a cash delivery to an ATM machine at a Leamington petrol station.

Irwin and Ross, in a Peugeot, were monitoring the movements of the security van and following it closely.

About ten minutes behind them, but in regular phone contact, were two other cars – a Mondeo with Mills, McTighe and Stojsavljevic in it and, just behind them, Martin in his Audi.

Mobile phone analysis later showed 41 calls between the Mondeo and the Peugeot, 20 between the Peugeot and Martin, and 18 between the Mondeo and Martin.

To put their suspicions to the test, Mr Russell left the A46 at the University of Warwick junction and straight back down to rejoin the dual carriageway – as did the Peugeot.

And when both vehicles then came off the A46 at the Kenilworth junction, he turned right and went all the way round the island before heading to Leamington – as did the Peugeot.

“At this point the guards contacted the police,” said Mr Barnes, and as the van continued to Leamington the Peugeot overtook it but then slowed down to stay just in front of it.

Recordings from CCTV cameras showed the security van going down the Parade and doing a u-turn at Dormer Place before pulling up to wait for a police car to meet it.

With the robbery plan abandoned, Irwin drove also headed back up the Parade and ‘quite brazenly’ parked up and walked to the Shell garage in Clarendon Street, where the guards were filling the cash machine, to check what was happening.

Shortly afterwards the police located the Peugeot in nearby Beauchamp Road and arrested Irwin and Ross.

The Mondeo was not far away in Lillington Avenue when it was stopped by the police, and Mills, who was driving, McTighe and Stojsavljevic were also arrested.

In that car officers found two balaclavas, two pairs of new dark-coloured overalls, two new pairs of black gloves, a box of unopened latex gloves, and a pair of dirty overalls.

Sentencing them, Judge Marten Coates said of the Halifax robbery: “Thankfully no violence was used because the two guards escaped from you, but violence was threatened and there was a considerable amount of planning.”

Of the conspiracy, Mark Graffius, for Stojsavljevic, suggested that had been ‘a reconnaissance’ rather than a robbery about to be staged.

And Judge Coates said: “I’m not convinced it was going to happen that night, but again it had a degree of planning, with the following of that van for some distance.”