Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

ATM thieves launch bid to clear names

Joseph McHale, 38, and Kevin Schruyers, 42
Joseph McHale, 38, and Kevin Schruyers, 42

Two career criminals who blew up cash machines in a string of raids across the north-east have launched a bid to clear their names.

Joseph McHale, 38, and Kevin Schruyers, 43, were part of a three-strong Liverpudlian gang who struck in Stonehaven, Inverurie, Aberdeen, New Deer and Ellon, stealing £130,000 in two months.

The pair denied the allegations against them but were convicted of blowing up a machine at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Turriff on September 18, 2013, and stealing £21,020 and blowing up the cash machine at Scotmid Co-operative in North Deeside Road in Aberdeen on September 19, and stealing £112,000.

The jury also found them guilty of blowing up four ATMs in Ellon, Stonehaven, Inverurie and Aberdeen and attempting to steal from them.

The duo were also found guilty of attempting to break into a cash machine in Mintlaw by using a crowbar.

McHale was sentenced to 12 years and six months behind bars, while Schruyers was jailed for 13 years.

Meanwhile, co-accused Robin Vaughan – who admitted being a part of the Turriff, North Deeside Road and Mintlaw offences – was sentenced to 11 years in jail which was reduced by 12 months on appeal.

Judge Lady Scott described the gang as “career criminals” who had endangered the public.

During the trial, the jury heard the trio were snared thanks to police intelligence.

The focus of the investigation shifted to Liverpool after a number of Scottish bank notes started to circulate in the Merseyside area.

Many of them had edges cut off to try to remove the signs of red security dye they were stained with when the ATMs were blown up.

McHale and Schruyers’ case is due to call at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh on Friday.