Thief blew up cash machines with homemade bombs

A man who blew up three cash machines with homemade bombs in a failed attempt to steal thousands of pounds has been jailed for eight years.

Kristofer Follos, 45, used his improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to explode machines in Northumberland, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire between May and August last year but failed to breach the secure money boxes, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

When he was arrested at a flat bock in Morpeth, Northumberland, the building had to be evacuated as officers three found more devices in his bedroom.

Follos, who had a history of burglary and robbery, admitted conspiracy to cause explosions endangering life, making an explosive device and conspiring to steal.

Follos and another man drove to Hedgeley Service Station at Powburn in an Audi fitted with fake registration plates in the early hours of 12 May, prosecutor Jolyon Perks said.

Their first attempt at about 02:00 BST, in which one of the men tried to push an item into the machine, was unsuccessful, the court heard.

They returned at about 03:30 and Follos shoved a rectangular package with a cord sticking out into the cash dispenser tray and lit the fuse with a cigarette lighter, CCTV footage showed.

The pair then sought sanctuary behind the car and waited for about a minute before the device exploded, the court heard.

The machine held a large amount of cash but the explosion failed to breach the money box, the court heard, although £4,815 of damage was caused.

Officers identified Follos as being involved and on 24 September went to his mother's flat in Morpeth where he lived, the court heard.

The apartment building, which had 16 flats mainly inhabited by elderly people, had to be evacuated when officers found three more "viable" IEDs in a box in a sideboard in Follos' bedroom, Perks said.

He made full admissions in his police interview and also said he had carried out attacks at a cash machine at Morrisons in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, at about 02:00 on 11 August, where he failed to get any of the money inside but caused £4,900 worth of damage.

He admitted another at an Asda in Northamptonshire on 8 July which destroyed the £3,500 machine, the court heard.

An investigation of his mobile phone also found he had searched for videos online on how to blow up cash machines, read multiple news reports about secure money-transferring vans being robbed and looked at maps of rural cash machines across the country, Perks said.

Gloves, crowbars, a face covering and safety glasses were found in his BMW car, the court heard.

The court heard Follos had 28 offences on his criminal record dating back to when he was 17, including multiple burglaries, and he was jailed in 2001 for seven years for robbing a bank while threatening staff with an imitation firearm.

Judge Robert Adams said the way Follos and his accomplice ran to the car at Hedgley Service Station showed they "must have anticipated a fairly extensive explosion".

He said once the devices were lit, Follos was no longer in control of them and there was a risk anyone coming to use the cash machines could have suffered "very serious injury" in the blasts.

The judge said Follos was a "dangerous" offender who posed a high risk of serious harm to the public.

Follos will have to serve an extra three years on extended licence upon his release from prison.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Sgt Patrick Naughten of the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU) said Follos had proven he was "an extreme danger to the public".

David Lee of CPS North East, said Follos "gave little thought" to the risk he posed to others while in "pursuit of his own financial gain".

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.