Video shows hapless criminals try to blow up an ATM – but leave without a penny

Two wannabe thieves have been jailed after blowing up two cash points but failing to steal a single penny.

CCTV footage captured the moment Jamie Masters, 34, and Wayne Lewis, 42, used makeshift explosives to try and access an ATM in Essex last year.

But all the pair managed to do was cause more than £100,000 worth of damage and land themselves in jail.

During their first attempt they stuck a gas canister to an ATM in the early hours of March 22, 2022 at a shopping district in Witham.

They lit the gas canister which exploded, causing significant damage to the building but bringing them no closer to any cash.

Around two and a half weeks later Masters and Lewis attached a gas canister near a cash point outside a Tesco in Laindon, but this time instead of igniting the gas the makeshift explosive caused a firework-like explosion.

Once again, they failed to gain access to any money.

Jamie Masters, 34, and Wayne Lewis, 42, caught trying to blow up an ATM at Laindon Tesco (Pictures: Essex Police/SWNS)

Police identified the pair through CCTV and they were arrested on April 19 of last year.

Both men admitted charges of conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to cause an explosion with intent to endanger life or property.

Masters, of Sackville Crescent in Harold Wood, was sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment, while Lewis, of Upper Road in Woodford Green, received six years.

Masters, of Sackville Crescent in Harold Wood, was sentenced to six years and eight months in jail (Pictures: Essex Police/SWNS)

Detective inspector Frazer Low said: ‘More than anything else, the actions of Lewis and Masters were incredibly dangerous, to themselves, to anyone who was nearby and to the property they were targeting.

‘Neither had the knowledge or skills to control explosions and they put the safety of the public – and themselves – at significant risk.

‘Despite their actions, they left each scene without a penny, so their actions really were in vain.

‘Thankfully, our team was able to act quickly to identify them, arrest them and build a case so overwhelming that they had very little option but to admit their guilt.’

Lewis, of Upper Road in Woodford Green, received six years in prison (Pictures: Essex Police/SWNS)

Another gang of bungling thieves also tried and failed to rip an ATM out of a supermarket when the chassis of their van broke.

George Jones, 31, was one of three men who tried to rip a cash point out of a Co-op in Longfield, Kent, last April.

Two vans arrived at the scene at around 4am, and one broke through the front window of the store while a strap was tied around a cash machine inside the shop and attached to the second.

George Jones, 31, was given a four year and nine-month sentence (Picture: Kent Police / SWNS)

The group tried to pull the machine out of the shop, but on their second attempt, the van’s chassis bar was broken.

Jones was given a four year and nine-month sentence after admitting conspiracy to burgle and dangerous driving at a previous hearing.

All the pair managed to do was cause more than £100,000 worth of damage and land themselves in jail.