Two men police dubbed the “fruit machine bandits” have been sentenced after they took photographs of themselves committing their crimes.
Daniel Hutchinson, 24, and Benjamin Robinson, 29, both from Skegness, roamed the UK breaking into gambling machines before being caught with more than a thousand £1 coins in their car.
The pair were sentenced at Bradford crown court on Monday, where Robinson was jailed for 32 months and his accomplice Hutchinson was handed a six-month sentence, suspended for two years.
Robinson and Hutchinson wore balaclavas during their raids, but decided to photograph themselves celebrating and posing with their spoils after raiding the fruit machines.
DCI Matt Walker, of North Yorkshire police, said: “We knew we hit the jackpot when we investigated these lemons.”
The pair pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to steal.
After a cross-border police operation, the men were stopped in a car near Skipton in June last year. As well as more than a thousand £1 coins, police found £2,000 in notes, balaclavas and a screwdriver in the white Vauxhall Insignia.
“These offenders carried out a string of crimes with no thought for the businesses they were targeting – but ultimately their greed, arrogance and affinity for ‘selfies’ proved to be their downfall,” said Walker.
“We’re pleased that our operation to target cross-border criminals continues to disrupt the activities of offenders such as Hutchinson and Robinson. The investigation showed that that they were targeting fruit machines around the country.
“It sends out a clear message that anyone travelling into North Yorkshire to commit crime will be caught and brought to justice.”
