By James Simons-
A Birmingham gang stole about £72,000 in a nationwide attack on railway ticket vending machines.
The strategic criminal gang also caused £433,000 damage after targeted 50 stations across the UK. Crime gang members Alin Grijincu, 31, and Cornel Naida, 32, both of Holcombe Road, Tyseley, previously admitted a charge of conspiracy to steal. Grijincu was jailed for four years while Naida was handed a three year sentence at Birmingham Crown Court.
Striking between 1am and 4am, the gang evaded identification from CCTV by covering their faces, while wearing gloves to avoid any forensic connection to the crimes. Birmingham Court heard that crowbars and screwdrivers were used to extract cash from ticket machines, and gang used railway lines to enter and exit the stations, creating “safety issues.”The gang traveled to their target destinations by using cars with false identity plates before returning to Birmingham. They co-ordinated their plans through facebook, ensuring successful results, Birmingham Court heard.
The first station they struck at was at Loughborough while they had also gone to stations in Derbyshire, Warwickshire as well as the north and south of England. They raided a machine at Rowley Regis station twice and also one at Stratford-Upon-Avon.
The crime-spree came to an abrupt end on July 17 when police stopped a Ford Focus heading south on the A1 and arrested Grijincu and Naida. They recovered £2,235 in bank notes hidden in a sock under the rear passenger seat, as well as a pair of silver tongues and mobile phones.
In passing sentence Judge Murray Creed condemned the gang for their “concerted attacks” on the metro systems in Manchester and Newcastle.
“This has caused considerable disruption to a number of railway systems and to the infrastructure of three metro systems across the country.
“All were targeted for a particular brand of machine which you were able to plunder with the assistance of others.”
Although the crimes were carefully planned, the gang was eventually caught because most crimes like these eventually meet stumbling blocks. Criminals do not always get caught the way they excpect to, which is why staying on the right side of the law is always the safest. Criminals always want fast money, and so look for short cuts to achieve it. Such criminals often end up in jail, with their stories published like this.