Alexandra Palace
(Picture: )A gang of thieves who stole two cash machines from Alexandra Palace in a £46,000 raid have been jailed.
The men from east London used bolt cutters, power tools and a getaway van to carry out the raid on the historic venue in August 2019.
Wood Green crown court heard the main entrance to the palace was broken into at around 2am, allowing the thieves to access the cash machines inside.
They cut through the electric connections to detach the machines, loading one into the waiting van while a member of the gang acted as a lookout from a nearby car.
At 4.25am they returned to steal a second machine, taking it to a secluded yard where it could be prised open.
Scotland Yard said £46,590 was stolen in total from the two machines, which were later found abandoned in Loughton and Abridge in Essex.
DNA from the gang’s vehicles, which were dumped in Chingford, helped detectives to track down the thieves.
The break-in happened in the early hours of August 19, 2019, after a weekend of events at Alexandra Palace and as the venue was preparing to host The Monster – the world’s biggest obstacle course.
Aaron Noah, 32, from Bethnal Green, admitted conspiracy to commit burglary as well as a separate raid on a NatWest bank in Whitechapel, and was jailed for four years and two months.
Kyle Shillingford-Small, 33, of no fixed address, was also sentenced to four-years-and-two months in prison, and Jason Hardcastle, 35, from Waltham Forest, was jailed for three years and nine months. They had both been found guilty at trial.
Abdirazak Yassin, 23, of Bethnal Green, and Hassan Ibrahim, 24, from Bow, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary and were handed 18-month suspended prison sentences with 150 hours of community service each.
Robert Neville, 42, from Brentwood in Essex, who organised the yard for breaking into the machines, admitted handling stolen goods and was also sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, with 80 hours of community service.
"Diligent policing, thorough detective work and a strong collaboration with prosecution counsel, David Harounoff and Brinder Soora, have led to these convictions and the sentences handed down today”, said DC Will Man, from the Met’s Specialist Crime unit.
"Police officers are working day in and day out right across London to ensure that criminals are caught and held to account for their actions.”
