A “scout” in a series of ATM thefts which caused damage and losses of more than £1m is to have his prison sentence increased by nearly two years, the Court of Appeal ruled on Friday.
Senior judges held that the original term of five years and eight months imposed on Kenneth Clarke for involvement in the attacks on cash machines across Co Antrim was unduly lenient.
The 32-year-old, from Broughshane Lane in Cullybackey, will instead now serve seven years and six months imprisonment.
Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said: “Sentences in this area must be a deterrent given the outrage that this type of persistent reckless offending engenders, and the financial loss and damage occasioned to local businesses.”
Clarke and co-defendant Jamie McConnell, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal, conspiracy to commit arson, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage in connection with raids at commercial properties between October 2018 and December 2019.
McConnell, of Upper Hightown Road in Belfast, was jailed for three years and eight months at their sentencing in February.
A gang of thieves used stolen diggers to rip out ATM machines, load them onto a trailer and then empty out the cash contents at other locations.
With nine separate businesses targeted in the overall crime spree, vehicles used in the attacks were set on fire in a bid to destroy all evidence.
Clarke accepted conspiracy charges for six of the ATM thefts, and to sourcing a vehicle used in two of the attacks.
The court heard he was referred to as a scout or look-out during some of the offences.
It was assessed that the losses in those specific incidents included £550,000 in stolen cash, £472,000 damage to property and a further £153,000 due to arson.
McConnell was involved in two ATM thefts on dates in April 2019, when £263,000 in cash was taken and estimated damages of nearly £300,000.
Although neither defendant could be identified as having removed the ATM machines, handled the cash or destroyed property, they pleaded guilty as part of a joint enterprise.
The Director of Public Prosecutions referred both men’s sentences back to the Court of Appeal in a bid to have the terms increased.
Although Dame Siobhan accepted that Clarke was not the prime mover in the criminal operation, she held that he was still highly culpable.
“(His) offending was over a substantial period in a substantial number of incidents which caused damage of over £1m,” the Lady Chief Justice pointed out.
“In a multiple incident case such as this with such high harm we are entirely satisfied that this sentence was not just lenient but unduly lenient.”
She confirmed: “In Clarke’s case we propose to grant leave for the referral and to substitute a sentence of seven and a half years’ imprisonment.”
However, the court decided not to alter the sentence imposed on McConnell based on his lesser involvement in the conspiracy.